Torino Chief on His Stellar Lineup With John Travolta, Pamela Anderson and Isabelle Huppert, and Why a ‘Festival Is Like an Art Gallery’

John Travolta, Isabelle Huppert, Pamela Anderson and Josh Safdie are among the honourees at the 44th Torino Film Festival, which runs from 24 November to 2 December. Artistic director Giulio Base says the festival aims to bring celebrated filmmakers and performers into close contact with local audiences, creating shared experiences around cinema.

Travolta and director Roland Joffé will open the festival with the international premiere of “November 1963”, a drama about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Twelve career achievement awards, shaped like Turin’s Stella della Mole sculpture, will be presented; other honourees include Luc Besson, Fanny Ardant, Margarethe von Trotta, Stephen Frears, Mike Newell, Andy Garcia and Mira Sorvino. Special guests including Chiwetel Ejiofor and Abel Ferrara will present new or classic work, while the Zibaldone programme brings together restorations, tributes, screenings and premieres.