Amber Heard to appear at film festival also featuring new Johnny Depp movie
By Mike Bedigan, PA Los Angeles Correspondent
Amber Heard is due to appear at an Italian film festival later this month, which is also set to feature a screening of Johnny Depp’s latest movie.
The Aquaman star will attend the 69th Taormina Film Festival on June 24 for the world premiere of her new film In The Fire.
It is her first major onscreen role following the high-profile legal battle with Depp last year, and she has kept a relatively low profile since.
The Hollywood star accused his former partner of defamation following a 2018 article she wrote in the Washington Post, which his lawyers said accused him of being an abuser.
Following a six-week trial in Fairfax County, Virginia, jurors returned a verdict in Depp’s favour.
In December, Heard made the “very difficult decision” to settle the multimillion-dollar case, so that the situation could be resolved “on terms I can agree to”.
On Monday, the Taormina Film Festival announced that Heard would be joining other famous faces at this year’s event to promote In The Fire.
Set in 1899, the film follows a 38-year-old American psychiatrist called to solve the case of a disturbed child in Columbia, following accusations that the child is the Devil.
Depp’s latest film Jeanne Du Barry, in which he plays King Louis XV, is also among the films listed at the festival.
The actor previously returned to the limelight to present the film at the Cannes Film Festival last month.
It is also his first major onscreen role since the defamation trial.
Speaking at a press conference at Cannes, Depp said he had “no further need” for Hollywood, and described the fallout from the trial as a “weird joke”.
Jeanne Du Barry is listed as a highlight of the Taormina Film Festival, though it was not confirmed whether Depp would be in attendance.
Organisers have been approached for comment on whether Depp will appear.
Other festival highlights include the Italian premiere of Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, starring Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller Bridge, and the world premiere of Billie’s Magic World, featuring Alec Baldwin.
The Taormina Film Festival is set to run from June 23 to July 1, in Sicily.
