Short Movie Fest in Pettineo from June 26th to 28th
Attractive villages thanks to PNRR funds: Pettineo, Castel di Lucio, and Motta d'Affermo propose their initiatives
Halaesa Nebrodi 22/06/2025 0
Forty-eight short films in competition, made by artists from different parts of the world, divided into three screening sessions; an evening dedicated to the nomination announcements and another dedicated to the awards ceremony. All enriched by guided tours of the Fiumara d'arte works, workshops for children, musical entertainment, and, of course, insightful tours of the host city: Pettineo.
These are the numbers with which the first edition of the Short Movie Fest, the international short film festival conceived and organized by the municipal administration and the Small Shaker theatrical association, presents itself to the public. It is framed within the much larger project called "COAST AND ALESINE VALLEYS: AN ITINERARY TO REDISCOVER THE VILLAGES OF CASTEL DI LUCIO, MOTTA D'AFFERMO, AND PETTINEO."
The project, which we have already covered previously (
Along this journey, which will unfold during the month of June, in addition to the Short Movie Fest, other interesting activities will come to life, such as: "Risalendo la storia" (Retracing History) (Castel di Lucio-Pettineo-Motta d'Affermo), "Medievalia" (Castel di Lucio, June 29), "Il filo di Arianna" (Arianna's Thread) (Castel di Lucio), "Residenza d'artista" (Artist Residency) (Pettineo), "1 km di tela" (1 km of Canvas) (Pettineo).
To expand the rich offer of events, interesting cultural and musical events are scheduled to be hosted at Palazzo Minneci (Motta d'Affermo), such as the upcoming Euterpe Fest planned for June 26, 29, and 30.
The three evenings of the Short Movie Fest will be hosted by the duo Alessandra Storniolo-Filippo Di Pietro and will feature the renowned musician and composer Nino Nobile and the comedian Roberto Anelli as guests.
The jury will be composed of Francesco Nucara (Director of Photography), Michele Tarzia (filmmaker), Giovanni Puliafito (composer), and the Small Shaker Theatrical Association.
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Riccardo Zingone 20/09/2025
Nino Mallaci, the Capramal Project, and his Messina goat salami
The Story of Nino's Goat Salami
To tell the story of the goat salami produced by Antonino Mallaci Bocchio—or Nino, as he's known to everyone—we need to take a big step back and listen to his history, which is rooted in an old family business dedicated to agriculture and animal husbandry.
"I come from a family of farmers and ranchers," Nino says. "I've always been fascinated by this world, which is rich in values and feelings, but also requires huge sacrifices."
As a boy, Nino split his time between school and the family business. After earning his surveyor's diploma, he decided to leave his studies to dedicate himself fully to the work, which at the time was primarily raising cows. "Our grazing lands were located between Mistretta, Cerami, and Agira, which required a lot of organizational and financial energy," he explains. In the late nineties, in his twenties, he and his father decided to build a barn on their land in the Calogno district, in Cerami but adjacent to Mistretta. Since then, all of his work has been focused there.
Like many livestock farms, Nino's also had goats and pigs. "I remember as a child," Nino continues emotionally, "I would often watch the preparation of various cured meats, including goat salami, which was made by mixing goat meat, naturally lean, with the leftover scraps from processing pork. I never forgot those flavors, those smells, and those healthy traditions. For a long time, I set a goal for myself to keep them alive through my business and my retail shop."
La Dispensa del Massaro and a Found Dream
Fast forward to today, Nino opened a store in Santo Stefano di Camastra, where he started La Dispensa del Massaro. The goal was to promote and sell cured meats from the Nebrodi Black Pig, a product of local excellence, along with select beef. However, the thought of the goats continued to "graze" in his mind, along with the project of bringing their related culinary traditions to everyone's tables.
At one point, Nino had the opportunity to buy a number of certified Messina goats, an indigenous breed with roots between the Nebrodi and Peloritani mountains, prized for the quality of its milk and the goodness of its meat.
"With the purchase of this flock," Nino says, "I felt I was close to realizing my dream, but I was also aware that I had to acquire more knowledge to be able to produce a quality cured meat that honored both tradition and modern standards."
He decided to attend a specific course in Alba, Piedmont, an area with a long and established tradition in raising goats and producing cured meats. After various experiments, he succeeded in producing his own goat salami, finding the right balance of compactness, resistance to slicing, preservation, flavor, and aroma.
A Product that is a Synthesis of Tradition and Innovation
Nino's long and complex journey, supported by his family, culminated on September 18th with the official presentation of the Capramal project in Santo Stefano di Camastra. The event was attended by administrators, technicians, friends, and curious onlookers, all drawn by this tasty new product.
The gastronomic experience of tasting the goat salami was enriched by specialties produced by other local businesses: the Spina Santa company from Nicosia, which specializes in producing goat cheese, and the Casaleni company, which has long offered excellent gastronomic products. Thanks to these synergies, it was discovered how the Messina goat salami is particularly enhanced when paired, for example, with sweet provola cheese and fig jam.
A perfect synthesis of the values expressed by the Messina goat salami is captured in the words of Dr. Serena Nigrelli, the agronomist who followed Nino during the bureaucratic process: "Nino's salami is one that should be savored with your eyes closed, because that's how we can grasp unique sensations that take us back in time."
All that's left is to wish Nino and his dream-come-true sincere good luck. The territory needs this energy, vision, and enthusiasm so that our beautiful traditions can transform from memories into concrete realities.
Contact info@halaesanebrodi fro more information.
Riccardo Zingone 16/08/2025
Mario Biffarella and Remembrances five years after his passing
I believe Mario had an absolute blast last night. He, who always maintained that the dead never truly die but observe us from the afterlife, from another dimension, I saw him sitting on the steps of his house, on a small street near the Church of Santa Caterina in Mistretta. He was watching, watching us, and watching himself.
His clever, deep, and gentle gaze, curious like the goblins he loved to paint, rested on the faces of those who, five years after his passing, had decided to accept the invitation from family and friends to attend a cool August evening dedicated not to his commemoration, but to his memory.
He had a blast, as I said. I noticed it when he was in stitches, listening to the words of his close friend, Tatà. Growing up with a person, sharing their battles, passions, bold and unconventional choices, their successes and failures, is the fertile ground where a sincere, deep, and timeless friendship germinates, grows, and matures. This is why Tatà, in talking about Mario, couldn't help but talk about himself. And vice versa. Mario, sitting on those steps, laughed and Tatà smiled, between one anecdote and another, as he spoke to us about Mario the boy, Mario the artist, Mario the philosopher, Mario the politician, Mario the "communist," Mario the writer, Mario the man.
At a certain point, however, Mario's amused expression changed, becoming more introspective. The scene was changing, and Mario was changing too. His son Alvaro took up his guitar, adjusted the microphone, and, along with Valentina, began to sing the first notes of "La canzone di Marinella," by that De André whom Mario, so long ago, had introduced to his own son.
Mario had sung De André over and over at home, during get-togethers, maybe even with his group, Gli Elfi, but now, hearing it sung by Alvaro, it moved him and, at the same time, pleased him. "Alvaro is really good," he thought to himself, as the magic of the music spread along the narrow street crowded with people. Then I saw him go down the stairs and play the last verse along with them:
"This is your song, Marinella Who flew to the sky on a star And like all the most beautiful things You lived only for a day, like the roses And like all the most beautiful things You lived only for a day, like the roses."
While Alvaro and Valentina continued their musical performance, Mario, Liria, and Ferruccio led us up the stairs into what is now a small museum. It holds paintings, sketches, writings, and various documents produced by Mario during his long artistic life, carefully preserved by his family in that treasure trove of material and immaterial culture that Tatà would like to turn into a Foundation. It is the studio-workshop where Mario unleashed his exceptional artistic sensibility, his ironic, sarcastic, irreverent, bold, and fascinating, yet also gentle, brush. The colors, the painted figures with their almost photographic appearance, the symbols and symbolisms, the gnomes, toads, open books, and faces have always struck me.
The Rimembranze exhibition will also be open today, August 16th, from 7:00 PM onwards. If you look closely, Mario will still be there watching, watching us, watching himself.
For more information:
Riccardo Zingone 12/08/2024
Mistretta - Inauguration of the "Noi" Wooden Sculpture sicily
The echoes of the inauguration of The Sea Road mural in Torremuzza have barely faded, and the Halaesa-Nebrodi territory is already enriched by another important and evocative work of art: "Noi: Inizio di una nuova vita" (Us: Beginning of a New Life), by Antonino Lipari, known to all of us as Nino.
We are in Mistretta, within the majestic municipal park named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, and the artwork stands where, until recently, a magnificent Norway Spruce (Picea abies) once proudly stood. The cycle of life accustoms us to its fluctuating rhythm, where life precedes death, and death — sometimes — generates life. And so, after several centuries of silent and undisturbed existence, the fir tree became irreversibly diseased to the point that, to safeguard public safety, the city authorities decreed its removal about a year ago.
The community began to wonder how to fill the large void left by the impending demise of the majestic tree. While initiatives were being considered, the administrators decided to completely trim its crown, which was by then irreparably diseased, and to preserve the vast majority of its trunk, which was healthy enough to envision reusing the resulting timber.
An Unexpected Gift
Then, at a certain point, a young carpenter from Mistretta, Nino Lipari, knocked on the mayor's door. With his characteristic politeness, he suggested carving an artwork, a sculpture, from the remaining trunk: "I'll take care of everything," Nino said, "and I don't want to be paid."
It must be said that Nino is not new to the art of wood carving; in the past, through private commissions, he had already demonstrated artistic skills that transcend those of a simple, albeit very skilled, artisan. But now things became decidedly more serious, and he would have to put himself out there, exposing his work to public judgment. Yet Nino was confident; he knew what he was doing, had clear ideas, and possessed the skills to realize them. Thus, he immediately gained the mayor's trust, and work began just a few months after the tree's removal.
Access to the left avenue leading to the central square of the park was closed, opaque nets were put up, and simultaneously, the curiosity of passersby grew. They could barely glimpse scaffolding, the outline of the fir trunk, and Nino moving around it, but nothing more. The work lasted several months, and finally, on the evening of August 11th, the artwork was inaugurated, coinciding with the restoration of the lighting of the main gate of the municipal park.
"Noi": A Symbol of Love and Renewal
Noi blossomed at dusk on a pleasant August evening, contrasting with the sad days of the cutting of the majestic mother-plant that had held it in its womb for three centuries. In this journey that intertwines life with death, and allows death to generate life, Nino sensed the presence, in that trunk otherwise destined for the sadness of abandonment, oblivion, if not destruction, of an opportunity for rebirth and regeneration that could take shape through his hands, his tools, and his heart.
Nino then chose to embark on a reinterpretation of José Luis Santes's The Embrace and thus decided to celebrate his love for his land through the tender and eternal embrace between two lovers. It is a message so simple in its genuineness that, at times, we don't fully grasp its power. But Nino, with his artwork that he decided to give to the community, reminds us that giving oneself to others is also a form of love, that solidarity among people is an act of love, as is gratitude, and that one can become a father infinitely, just as he himself demonstrated by transforming a raw and shapeless piece of wood into a magnificent work of art that all of us can enjoy and through which we will have opportunities to reflect on the true meaning of life.
With these brief words, we extend a warm virtual hug to Nino, his family, and his collaborators, along with a sincere thank you for the significant gesture he performed.
Learn about the Operators and the Project of GMT Halaesa-Nebrodi.