Udinese celebrates Champions’ League qualifier!

With the May 22^nd, 2011 tie against league champions Milan in Udine and after a six-year absence, Udinese has finally gained access to the prestigious Champions’ League tournament by reaching 4^th place in the Italian Serie A. Team captain Toto Di Natale also grabbed the leading goal scorer’s title with a whopping 28 goals, just two ahead of Naples’s Cavani. Not bad indeed for a 33+ year-old who plays in perhaps the toughest (but not the best) soccer championship in the world.

Thousands of fans took to the streets of Udine’s center on Monday as they celebrated their heroes in the city’s main square, Piazza Liberta’. Udine’s mayor, the entire team as well as the owner of the club, Pozzo were on hand to receive the support and affection from adoring fans.

With a long championship now over with, which by the way began with several losses, Udinese can now look forward to a restful summer break and next season’s Champions’ League draw which could possibly see the small club battle it out with one of Europe’s soccer giants, Arsenal!

The great "Golden Boy" himself in Udine!

Yes, Gianni Rivera, the former "Golden Boy" of Italian soccer, the very first Italian-ever to have won the prestigious Golden Ball award, was in Udine on May 12, 2011 for a conference on youth soccer (he's now the president of the Italian youth and scholastic sector).

Rivera is no. 20 in the list of the all-time world’s greatest players of the 20^th century. He’s considered to also be one of the greatest no. 10s in the history of the game. In 1969 he became the firs Italian to win the prestigious “Golden Ball” award as Europe’s best player. He was Milan’s captain for a record 12 seasons.

With the national team he won the European championship in 1968. At the 1970 World Cup in Brazil he scored the winning goal in the over-time match between Italy and W. Germany (4-3). There’s a plaque outside of the Azteca Stadium which claims that the semi-final match between the Italians and Germans is the best match of the 20^th century! He eventually went on to lose the final against Pele’s mighty Brazil 4-1. Unfortunately, Rivera only entered the match with 6 minutes remaining. Not much to do against the likes of Pele’ and Rivelino… Rivera took part in 4 World Cups (1962, 1966, 1970 and 1974). He scored 14 goals and had 60 caps with the national team.

Ladies and gentlemen, and the winner is…..!

The small yet always quaint Udine hosted the 13^th edition of its wonderful “Far East Film Festival”. Throughout the years this fascinating event has become Europe’s most important Asian film review (on more than one occasion even the prestigious “The Economist” has reported on it).

The week long festival saw a record 87 movies being shown from 12 different countries, including Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and also first-timer Mongolia.

The festival itself is quite the hit in Udine attracting not only locals but also foreigners involved in the international movie sector. The all-day movie showings were divided into two venues, the main “Giovanni da Udine” theatre and the “Visionario” cinema (a former youth centre during the Fascist period. It had actually been visited by Benito Mussolini!). The opening night saw as master of ceremonies the very dynamic festival director Sabrina Baracetti and Udine’s mayor, Furio Honsell.

Some Asian directors, thanks to Udine’s festival, have also managed to get some rather great international exposure, such as Hong Kong’s Johnny To. Recent festival winners in Udine also went on to eventually win Oscar awards in Hollywood, such as Japan’s splendid “Departures”. That movie ended up winning the Oscar for best foreign movie just a few years ago.

Many directors have at current and also past editions been very impressed and even touched at seeing even MORE people show up at their world premiers in Udine than in their very own countries (showings have been practically all sold-out)! This was also the comment by China’s movie director Daming Chen who presented this year his cute re-make of “What Women Want”, which had originally starred Mel Gibson. The Chinese version instead included beauty sensation Gong Li, who unfortunately could not make it to Udine for this year’s festival (a pity as on the big screen she’s simply exquisite!).

And this year’s winner? The very extremely moving “Aftershock” by China’s Xiaogang Feng. The movie deals with a devastating earthquake which hit China on May 6^th, 1976, causing the death of some 240,000 people. The movie in Udine was actually shown on May 6^th, no coincidence actually as on that very same date back in 1976 the Udine area also got hit by a severe earthquake. Indeed a moving homage to the victims of both countries (and also to those in the recent disaster in Japan as festival organisers also paid homage to that country’s victims).

Giuseppe Battiston teams up with Gianmaria Testa, Udine May 2nd, 2011

Thanks to the folks at www.euritmica.it, Udine’s Teatro Palamostre saw on May 2nd, 2011 a nice play by Alfonso Santagata featuring a fine young Italian actor, who just also happens to hail from Udine, Giuseppe Battiston. Battiston has already starred in several highly successful Italian movies and is definitely on his way up the national, and perhaps even international, movie ladder.

Udine’s performance, practically a monologue, was called “18 mila giorni, il pitone” (18 thousand days, the python). The reference to 18 thousand days signifies the number of years in Battiston’s life, 50. In one simple and unfortunate stroke of (mis) luck, Battiston loses his job, wife and even his son. The python instead represents a metaphor of life: the large snake coils around you and eventually suffocates you to death, much in the same way that a jobless life will do to a person.

Gianmaria Testa’s presence, albeit a small yet a significant one, was a pleasant addition to the play. This fine musician, not all that well known in mainstream Italian music, is almost MORE famous in France (and even in distant Québec!) than he is in Italy. His mellow and suave voice is very reminiscent of a mix of that other highly popular Italian musician (who is also VERY popular in both France and Québec), Paolo Conte, and Canada’s very own Leonard Cohen.

Indeed an interesting mix of acting and fine music with Battiston and Testa (all pics by M. Rimati).