Amber Heard Attends Taormina Film Festival for Her Movie 'In the Fire' 1 Year After Johnny Depp Trial

The actress's appearance at the film festival in Italy comes one month after ex Johnny Depp opened the Cannes Film Festival

Amber Heard is making her first major appearance since her defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp came to a close a year ago.

The actress, 37, attended the 69th Taormina Film Festival in Italy on Friday to support the premiere of her film In the Fire, which completed filming in March 2022, months before the Virginia trial began.

In the Fire director Conor Allyn and costar Eduardo Noriega also attended the film festival's grand opening celebration.

Heard seemed relaxed and happy as she joked and laughed with friends and In the Fire cast and crew members, as they headed to Teatro Antico in the Sicilian town.

Dressed in a white calf-length wrap-around skirt, a simple T-shirt and high black heels, Heard accessorized her look with silver earrings and gold bracelets and had her hair styled in loose curls that fell around her shoulders.

As the lively group — which included director Allyn and Italian actors Luca Calvani and Jari Gagliucci — made their way to the Teatro Antico (Heard almost lost a shoe as she walked along the uneven ancient flooring), passers-by appeared surprised and a group of excited staff and fans gathered to ask the actress for selfies.

In a sweet moment, one staffer told Heard, “You are my favorite person” to which the actress sweetly responded, “I believe you.” Another fan laughed and joked to Heard: “Oh, he says that to everyone.”

The film's premiere is planned for Saturday night in Taormina. In the supernatural thriller, Heard plays a "pioneering psychiatrist who sets out to treat a desperate child at a time when psychiatry is not yet a respected science," per a press release.

"While the woman tries to psychoanalyze the child, the nefarious events intensify and her 'cure' becomes a race to save the little boy from the fury of his fellow citizens, and perhaps, even from himself."

Heard and Depp, 60, reached a settlement and dropped their appeals in December. As part of the agreement, she paid the actor $1 million, which he said will go to five different charities.

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When she announced the settlement, Heard said it was "not an act of concession" and "there are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward."

She later added, "I cannot afford to risk an impossible bill — one that is not just financial, but also psychological, physical and emotional. Women shouldn't have to face abuse or bankruptcy for speaking her truth, but unfortunately it is not uncommon."

Heard also said she was "choosing the freedom to dedicate my time to the work that helped me heal after my divorce."

The actress, who will also appear in this December's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, relocated to Madrid, Spain, where she lives with her 2-year-old daughter Oonagh Paige.

Depp, meanwhile, opened the Cannes Film Festival last month with his French movie Jeanne Du Barry. During a press conference at the prestigious festival, Depp was asked about returning to movies after the trial and whether he felt "boycotted by Hollywood."

"Do I feel boycotted now? No, not at all. But I don't feel boycotted by Hollywood because I don't think about it. I don't think about Hollywood. I don't have much further need for Hollywood myself," he told reporters at the time.

Depp added, "I keep wondering about the word comeback because I didn't go anywhere. As a matter of fact, I live about 45 minutes away. So yeah, maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time. But no, I didn't go nowhere. I've been sitting around."

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