SPECIAL EVENTS
UNICA organised many special events to supplement the programme and give a flavour of Ticino Canton, the country within the Swiss Federation closest to Italy. For example, from Raphael Brunschwig we had an overview of the professional Locarno Film Festival, whose enormous 46-foot-high screen in the Piazza Grande was being disassembled when we arrived. Many festival organisers hung on his words about planning and sponsorship.
WMMC (World Minute Movie Cup)
This is always a popular part of UNICA, since the audiences judge the entries in a knock-out contest. This year the winner was With the Help of God from Austria.
EXCURSIONS - Centovalli
The excursions give visitors the chance to see something of the country, which hosts UNICA and to meet and mingle.
Sting's handprint.
|
Overpass on the Centovalli railway in Calezzo. (Picture by NAC, Wikimedia Commons)
|
Lunch in former train shed. Alan Atkinson. Jackie Williams, Marianne Leuenberger.
|
The day before the competition started, we met by the town casino and walked through memorial gardens – including one with bronze plaques with the handprints of rock stars who had taken part in one the Locarno’s many festivals.
Then came a train outing to Centovalli presenting magnificent views of Swiss mountain life – impressive rivers and waterfalls, private cable railways, and roadways clinging to cliffs or leaping across space on bridges and viaducts, soaring power cables spanning valleys. At the turning point of our tour, we were greeted by an accordionist encouraging some to dance and more to film the dancing! An old engine shed had been decked out with tables and in its welcome shade, we were served sandwich rolls and drinks. On the return trip we emerged near the old town of Locarno and made our way through a church, museum and art gallery to the PalaCinema for registration.
The day was completed by a film biography about the man who invented the Bolex range of equipment, designed to make it possible for ordinary people to shoot movies.
At the end of the competition and awards came two days of wider travel.
Then came a train outing to Centovalli presenting magnificent views of Swiss mountain life – impressive rivers and waterfalls, private cable railways, and roadways clinging to cliffs or leaping across space on bridges and viaducts, soaring power cables spanning valleys. At the turning point of our tour, we were greeted by an accordionist encouraging some to dance and more to film the dancing! An old engine shed had been decked out with tables and in its welcome shade, we were served sandwich rolls and drinks. On the return trip we emerged near the old town of Locarno and made our way through a church, museum and art gallery to the PalaCinema for registration.
The day was completed by a film biography about the man who invented the Bolex range of equipment, designed to make it possible for ordinary people to shoot movies.
At the end of the competition and awards came two days of wider travel.
Train back to Locarno. Jim Walker, Jan Essing and Ineke Essing.
|
Jan Watterson and Susanne Dusek dancing on the platform.
|
EXCURSIONS - Lake Maggiore
It was a perfect day of deep blue sky and lake, surrounded by steep wooded hills and mountains. The first outing was based on the lake which laps Locarno. We boarded a ferry for the 55-minute sail to Brissago. The small island had been home to a monastery, converted to a private house and is now a hotel and restaurant. The grounds had been filled with exotic plants and are now the Canton’s botanical gardens. We wandered for a couple of hours enjoying the peace and fascination of the plants. There was even a blissfully moist and cool section for rainforest ferns. Most of us spent the last half hour on the restaurant terrace enjoying drinks and Italian style ice-creams.
Serge Michel in the Brissago gardens.
|
Lunch in Grotto Baldoria.
|
Looking down from Monte Verità to the Brissago Islands.
|
We gathered at the ferry for the short trip to Ascona. After a walk through narrow, winding alleys of shops and galleries, we reached Grotto Baldoria. This is a osteria: no menu – customers eat what the chef has cooked. Your keep your plate and friendly staff bring several courses to you. We enjoyed salad with tuna, salami, saffron rice and lamb, cheeses and sweet cakes. Absolutely yummy! Then came a choice: climb 120 metres up to Monte Verità (The Mountain of Truth) or stroll back down to the village shops. Those of us who climbed were rewarded by an open park land with a modern conference centre and an old hotel. The grounds were like a sculpture park with the remains of a late 19th century commune set up by a colony of artists and mystics.
At the end of the afternoon, we took a ferry back to Locarno. For those with the energy to carry on the city was hosting a risotto festival.
At the end of the afternoon, we took a ferry back to Locarno. For those with the energy to carry on the city was hosting a risotto festival.
At the Risotto Championship in Piazza Grande.
|
Music at the Risotto Festival.
|
