Few know that Udine is also the birthplace of the famous photographer Tina Modotti. Modotti was born about 500 metres from the centre of Udine in 1896. She was also a factory worker, seamstress, model, silent movie star and even a spy (she was nicknamed the “Mata Hari of the Comintern”, as she was also a communist), but most of all she was one fine photographer. She spoke the local language, Friulano, plus Italian, German, French, English, Spanish and even Russian. She travelled to far-off places such as Mexico, Cuba, the U.S.(the only copy of her silent film, “A Tiger’s Coat”, is preserved in Udine), Spain and Russia. She even made friends with the great Chilean Nobel Laureate, Pablo Neruda, who dedicated her some words from a poem “Tina Modotti ha muerto”. The words are on the plaque which can be found on the house where she was born (see pics).
Modotti died at the early age of 46 in Mexico City and is buried in the Pantheon de Dolores. The interesting coincidence is that on July 13th of this year, Madonna will be playing in Udine. Where’s the connection between the great American singer and Tina Modotti? Well, years ago Madonna was to have made a movie on her life, with herself playing the part of Modotti. The movie would have been inspired by the biography on Modotti by Margaret Hooks and produced by Mick Jagger. Filming was supposed to have started in 1997, but the production was eventually blocked by Hooks who pulled the rights from Jagger. Apparently, Hooks wasn’t satisfied with the project and proceeded to sell the rights to another production company. For some strange reason though, the project never got off the ground. Indeed a pity as no doubt the folks in Udine would have been exceptionally proud of the world knowing that Modotti was actually born in Udine, and portrayed none the less by Ms. Ciccone herself (all pics by M. Rimati)!
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