CPS, Television and Film Adjunct Faculty Wins Taormina Film Festival for Best Director

“It Will be Chaos” by Filippo Piscopo and Lorena Luciano won the award for best director at the 64^th Taormina Film Festival held last July 14-20, 2018 in Sicily. The HBO documentary tells personal stories behind the global refugee crisis. The dramatic stories of an Eritrean refugee who travels from Lampedusa to Sweden and that of a Syrian family travelling from the Balkans to Germany fully absorb the viewers and depict the human tragedy of displacement and war. The documentary narrates the unforgettable stories of refugees crossing the Mediterranean only to land on shores in turmoil, where the local communities are split between compassion and animosity. It goes to the heart of the migration emergency with formidable access to both sides of the crisis.

The Taormina Film Fest is one of the oldest festivals in the world. It takes place in the famous seaside town on the eastern coast of Sicily in a 5,000 seats and 2,300 years old Greek Theatre. Taormina became the center of Italian and International Film Festivals between the 50's and the 70's emerging as a place of excellence that defined the film season. The David di Donatello and the Nastri D'argento Awards were first celebrated in Taormina. Of particular note is that this year’s festival featured for the first time a female-only jury.[1]

Great actors, producers or directors and many international stars have been on the stage where Filippo and Lorena received their award. From Cary Grant to Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston and Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. In more recent years, Robert De Niro, Oliver Stone, Jessica Lange, Michael Douglas, Colin Firth, Tom Cruise, among many others, have participated.[2]

Filippo is an adjunct faculty in the Division of Mass Communication, Television and Film degree program, where he teaches students about cinema production, directing and how to love everything about films, reporting and documentaries. Filippo and his wife immigrated from Italy over twenty years ago. They live in Brooklyn, NY.