Cinema | A soccer player’s escape from Argentina … into philosophy (w/ podcast)

Stockholm, Aug 27 | The film Crónica de una fuga (Chronicle of an Escape) has released to DVD in North America. Within the film, director Adrián Caetano poses the quandary that faced Claudio Tamburrini—now a Stockholm University philosophy professor and one-time Almagro goalkeeper—and fellow prisoners before their extraordinary decision in Mar 1978 to “opt for life.” With podcast.

Literature | In 1937 appearance, Joyce joined Hungarians ‘in the middle’

Jun 16 | Why has a 1937 alignment of literary stars not featured in Vienna in the European Championship’s cultural program? Vladimir Nabokov lectures in a Parisian literary salon and espies James Joyce “sitting, arms folded and glasses glinting, in the midst of the Hungarian football team.”

Cinema | For cinéastes, Fußballfilmfestival offers definitive fixture list

As one should not judge a book by the cover, one should not judge a film by its trailer. But the trailer for Maradona: La mano de Dios, which opened the 11mm Fußballfilmfestival in Berlin on Apr 4, sounds a warning: handle with care. (Apr 5)

Italy | Stickers have strong backing

Modena, Italy, Dec 19 | Collectible football stickers (figurine) have achieved such cultural cache in Italy that they are afforded dedicated museum space and now a comprehensive exhibition running into February: “Mondo calcio—Campionati e campioni della storia del calcio in figurina” (The World of Football: Championships and Champions in the History of Football, in Sticker Form).

Lofty discussions | Morales’s maneuvering in Zurich earns reprieve for La Paz

Zurich, Switzerland, Jul 6 | Is it safe to play football on the Andean altiplano or the Tibetan plateau? FIFA has not decided yet, but it continues to modify its judgment, originally decreed in May, that FIFA competitions could not be staged above 2,500m. We interview, as part of our third podcast, Eduardo Ávila of Global Voices Online to learn about Bolivia’s reaction to FIFA’s decision-making process.

Butting in on Christmas | Zidane, Materazzi herald His coming

Naples, Italy, Dec 25 | Including figures from the world of football in the holiday-time “presepe” could not be sacreligious, as football in Italy certainly takes on the characteristics of faith.

Magnum opus | From Charlton to Cantona, book charts a Devilish history

Manchester, England, Dec 15 | The Independent calls them “£imited editions.” These are books seeking the reverence once granted the Gutenberg Bible, instant collectibles demanding coffee tables with reinforced legs.

The latest megabook publicity splash concerns the Manchester United Opus, nearly 80 lbs of silk-coated pages with a base price of £3,000.