The event that will bring to Gorizia La Milanesiana, the famous cultural event conceived and directed by Elisabetta Sgarbi, on the occasion of GO! 2025, Nova Gorica Gorizia European Capital of Culture, is dedicated to The Intelligence of Borders. On Wednesday 16 July at the Verdi Theatre (9 pm), an evening with two protagonists of great international relevance: the director Aleksandr Sokurov, Master of Russian cinema, Golden Lion at the 2011 Venice Film Festival; and the writer Claudio Magris, Premio Strega 1997, icon of frontier literature. An event designed around the suggestions of the border, the driving force behind the European Capital of Cross-border Culture, co-organised by EGTC GO and the Municipality of Gorizia with the support of Civibank.

If Claudio Magris has dedicated much of his work to the study of Central European identity and the flowing of historical and cultural borders, Aleksandr Sokurov has in his most recent films undertaken research into moral, existential and political borders in relation to the Russian soul and identity, reflecting on the human condition in times of crisis. The evening in Gorizia will offer a special emotion and gift to the audience, right at the opening: Claudio Magris will in fact read an unpublished text linked to the theme of the meeting, The Intelligence of Borders. And immediately afterwards Aleksandr Sokurov will converse with professor and film critic Aliona Shumakova, cultural mediator and historical translator of the Russian filmmaker's writings: a dialogue that will accompany the spectator into the director's poetic universe. This will be followed by the screening of the restored version of ‘Zhertva vecernjaja / The Evening Sacrifice’ (1988) and ‘Elegia dorogi’ (2001), two works that embody the elegiac and visionary character of Sokurov's cinema and explore pain, memory and the sense of the sacred, confirming the originality of his gaze. The Director of La Milanesiana Elisabetta Sgarbi, who was awarded the Amidei Prize for Cinematographic Culture in Gorizia in 2024, will also take part in the evening. The event is open to the public, bookings at lamilanesiana.eventbrite.com.