Over 80 events on the bill in Udine for the Near/Long Festival

Preceded by preview events starting from 30 April, near/far as always will have at its center the evening of the 2026 Terzani Prize: on Saturday 9 May, at 9pm at the Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine, the award will be given to the winner Alaa Faraj for the epistolary novel “Why I was a boy” (Sellerio), “an exemplary story of dignity and courage” as stated in the motivation of the jury, chaired by Angela Terzani Staude: the author, currently detained in Palermo prison, will be able to participate subject to authorization from the competent authorities. The journalist and literary critic Marino Sinibaldi will host, the professor of Philosophy of law and recipient of Alaa Faraj’s letters, Alessandra Sciurba, the journalist Luciana Castellina, the priest involved in social work Don Francesco Saccavini and, in connection, the jurist Gustavo Zagrebelsky will speak.

«Initiatives such as Vicino/Lontano – underlined in his message the vice-president and councilor for culture of the autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia, Giulia Mario Anzil – interpret well the frontier identity of Friuli Venezia Giulia, which gives rise to a particular vocation for dialogue and listening, but also for the ability to keep differences and sensitivities together. The Region looks with interest at events like this, which bring authoritative voices from the national and international scene to the area, creating opportunities for cultural and civil growth. A special thought goes to the Terzani Prize, which valorises works capable of telling intense stories and questioning our time: the story of Alaa Faraj, awarded in this edition, recalls profound themes such as justice, the dignity of the person and the right to be heard”.

Continuing the thread of the previous edition, a central focus of near/far 2026 will be dedicated to Gaza, a place of limitless evil but also a place in which to rediscover our humanity: on Monday 4 May in the church of San Francesco “Mirrors. Gaza and us” will be staged, a theatrical dialogue in the form of a study written and performed by the essayist and journalist Paola Caridi and the art historian Tomaso Montanari, with the participation of the singer-songwriter and writer Nabil Bey Salameh, produced by the Foundation Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. And on Thursday 7 May near/far will open with “Gaza. The denied breath”, protagonists Loris De Filippi, Unicef ​​Health Specialist recently returned from the Strip about which he wrote in the volume-testimony “And we still ask for forgiveness”, and the Indian writer and activist Pankaj Mishra, author of the essay “The world after Gaza”.

The opening night will also feature a lecture by Limes director Lucio Caracciolo who will address the topic of the new disorder in the world, unleashed by the Netanyahu-Trump “de facto couple”. And to talk about the document that inspires Trump’s policy, Project 2025, the American journalist David A. Graham will be at the festival. Near/far also the preview presentation of the collective volume “Interno k”, published by Forum, edited by the independent photographer Danilo De Marco: the opportunity to talk about “Kurds. A people in the storm” with the Kurdish parliamentarian, jurist and activist Ebru Günay. The 2026 edition of Vino/Lontano will close on Sunday at 9pm in the Church of San Francesco with the show “Crescere, la Guerra” by and with the journalist, director and writer Francesca Mannocchi and with the multi-instrumentalist Rodrigo D’Erasmo: a theatrical journey to listen to what we often choose not to see, the pain of others.

Among the protagonists of near/far 2026 also, Alex Cobham, Sigrid Kaag, Raffaele Simone, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Riccardo Noury, Roberta De Monticelli, Omran Shroufi, Pier Aldo Rovatti, Riccardo Staglianò, Artur Weigandt, Angelo Floramo, Giacomo Marramao, Paola Bonfante, Gian Mario Villalta, Giuseppe Remuzzi, Tonia Mastrobuoni.