Audience award to Lower-Saxon singer Leon Moorman, former winner of the prestigious
Drèents Liedtiesfestival
UDINE – With a unique style combining jazz elements with others from classical music, and mixing the simplicity of pop with the complexity of progressive music, Magalí Sare won the fifth edition of Suns Europe (15-30 November 2019). The festival of performing arts in minority language (annually organised by Cooperativa Informazione Friulana, with the financial support of Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, ARLeF Agjenzie Regjonâl pe Lenghe Furlane – Regional Agency for Friulian language, and Fondazione Friuli, with the support of the Municipality of Udine, the Council of Europe and NPLD Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity) ended with style on Saturday, 30 November in the beautiful setting of Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine.
THE AWARDS – “For the original rhythm and unusual act. For her amazing stage presence and her impressive vocal mastery. For the lyrics of the song, whose important message was impeccably conveyed by the artist”, the international jury awarded Magalí Sare, 28-year old artist whose crystalline talent and inexhaustible artistic strain made her one of the most brilliant and promising talents of the Catalan music scene. The prize was presented by Giovanni Govetto, representing the Municipality of Udine. Second position for Mocker’s (Basque Country) with their hard rock and psychedelic incendiary power. Third place for the explosive four-piece punk band Sybs from Wales. The audience (which filled the theatre and surpassed last year’s attendance), was conquered by Lower-Saxony’s Leon Moorman, awarded by Sabrina Rasom, vice-president of NPLD, and by Eros Cisilino, president of ARLeF who recalled the value of Suns Europe, a festival which caters to young people through music and beyond.
THE BANDS – A colourful and entertaining event at Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine. The bands put great passion and enthusiasm in performing their songs, all sung in their minority languages. Hosted by fellow artists – Friulian rapper Doro Gjat and Ladinian singer-songwriter Martina Iori – the bands on stage were, along with the winners, Malasorti (Sardinia), Mattiu Defuns (Grisons), Son of Fortune (Faroe Islands), as well as Ataque Escampe (Galicia), Mauresca Fracas Dub (Occitania and Silvia Michelotti (Friuli). Artistic director Leo Virgili couldn’t hide his enthusiasm and commented on the spot: “This edition saw an exceptional level of the bands. They all improved sensibly when it came time to trod the boards and, in my opinion, it all depends on the energy of the festival. On the energy that starts a connection, an encounter of artists that, year after year, come to our festival and truly understand the spirit of Suns Europe, making it their own. Carlo Puppo, president of Cooperativa Informazione Friulana (publisher of Radio Onde Furlane, organising body of the event) also showed his satisfaction and received a warm and long applause from the audience. «This year’s edition had a great response from the public, not only for to final event at Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine, but also to other appointments, namely those belonging to the cinema section (with two premieres, ‘Sot de Stelis Fredis’ by Stefano Giacomuzzi, and ‘Predis’ by Massimo Garlatti-Costa) that were sold-out. » Big satisfaction for an edition that saw great numbers (which are very interesting web-wise: the website has tripled its traffics, whereas the social platforms registered 300 thousand people in the past three months, of which 11 thousand with the Facebook livestream operated by “Storytelling lab” of Uniud, in collaboration with Eja TV from Sardinia), but also for a the great qualitative level of a multifaceted festival: «Suns Europe is music, performing arts, cinema, literature, but also commitment and solidarity. The solidarity that we give to the other communities represented in this Festival. Once again this year – he concluded – we had a focus on what is happening in Catalonia, because behind languages there are communities, there are people, and their struggles are ours too. Therefore, be can’t but also share moments of celebration with them».
THE FESTIVAL – Suns Europe – annually organised by Cooperativa Informazione Friulana, with the financial support of Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, ARLeF (Agjenzie Regjonâl pe Lenghe Furlane – Regional Agency for Friulian language) and Fondazione Friuli – is supported by the Municipality of Udine, the Council of Europe and NPLD Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity. It avails itself of the collaboration of many private and public bodies, both local and international, such as Etxepare Euskal Institutua (the Basque Country), Secretaría Xeral de Política Lingüística – Xunta de Galicia (Galicia), Babel Film Festival (Sardinia), RTR (Grisons), “Stichting REUR” (Netherlands) and CEC, Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche. Suns Europe deserves credit for making the city of Udine a crossroad of culture and artists where creativity and contamination intermingle to create a highly valuable production.