Udine – Tokyo: 9,475km. Udine – Beijing: 7,800km. Udine – Seoul: 8,619km.

The air-distance between the FEFF capital and these Asian cities is huge but for nine days every year it magically disappears.

Udine residents are always ready to embrace the oriental world, but why is this festival such an attraction?

“Every year I can’t wait to see the new movies. I always watch as many films as possible,” says Sabrina Bodigoi. “The interaction with actors and directors, the FEFF Talks, the chance to meet easily your idols, are all essential parts of this amazing kermesse [festival].

“It is like entering in a different dimension: accents are mixed up and you can see myriad different cultures. But there are also a lot of similarities with us. In this edition I’ve found very interesting the topic of censorship. The most beautiful moment? Last year, when the director of Thermae Romae (Hideki Takeuchi) came here with a portable toilet on the red carpet. He was so funny!”

Cristiano Camaur agrees with these sentiments.

“When I think about FEFF, I imagine a big family where you can find the most important Asian stars next to you and your friends,” he says. “The ‘new’ is perfectly connected to the ‘old’ and there is something of Asian culture in this vision.

“Udine is the perfect city for the FEFF. It isn’t chaotic, it’s warm, relaxing, full of history. The festival is part of us, of our lives and every year I’m very curious about the FEFF’s evolution: it is growing so much and for me and my fellow citizens it’s a honour that make us so proud of our small town.”

Luca Feole – FEFF Campus 2015

IN FOCUS N.1 – THE NEWSLETTER OF THE FEFF CAMPUS