John Turturro to open Jerusalem Film Festival
American actor, best known for his frequent work with the Coen brothers, will arrive in Israel for screening of Italian director Nanni Moretti's drama 'Mia Madre'; Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl also expected to attend festival.
Turturro, 58, is best known for his frequent work with the Coen brothers (in "Miller's Crossing," "Barton Fink," "The Big Lebowski," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"), Spike Lee ("Do the Right Thing") and Adam Sandler ("Mr. Deeds," "You Don't Mess with the Zohan").
His appearances in Hollywood blockbusters have been slightly less impressive. He played Agent Simmons in Michael Bay's "Transformers" and Pharaoh in Ridley Scott's "Exodus: Gods and Kings."
In "Mia Madre," which was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or prize at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Turturro plays an American actor who arrives in Italy and gets involved in a family affair led by director Moretti himself and actress Margherita Buy.
Turturro, who has been married to Jewish actress Katherine Borowitz for 30 years, expressed his desire to visit Israel in a past interview with Ynet. He may be joined by Moretti at the Jerusalem screening.
Another director expected to arrive as the festival's guest is Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl, who was supposed to arrive last year but cancelled due to the Israeli operation in Gaza.
Apart from "Mia Madre," a number of additional films from the official Cannes Film Festival program will be screened in Jerusalem's week-long festival: Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "The Assassin," which won the best director award of 2015; Asif Kapadia's documentary "Amy" about late British singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse; Gaspar Noé's provocative film "Love"; and César Augusto Acevedo's "Land and Shade," which won the France 4 Visionary Award and SACD Award in the International Critics' Week section.
