Nico Bonomolo's 'Confino' Blends Animation, Painting, and Fascist-Era Sicily

Nico Bonomolo, born in Palermo in 1974, presents 'Confino', an animated short film selected for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Oscar-qualifying). The work also includes a series of watercolors on paper and oil paintings. Set in fascist-era Sicily, the story follows a shadow-puppet artist exiled to an island lighthouse after mocking Benito Mussolini during a theater performance. His art saves him from solitude through chiaroscuro performances projected onto the town square. The black-and-white film features original music by Gioacchino Balistreri. Bonomolo's preparatory sketches, monochrome drawings, and large-format oils are displayed alongside the film, each hand-painted frame freezing the stroboscopic movement. The paintings layer successive color incrustations, preserving the temporal development of frames. Both film and paintings depict brightly colored boats gliding beneath the lighthouse, with the drawings and paintings adding fauvist episodes to the film's silent melancholy.