Photo by Kersti Jan Werdal.

The five images in this series are from 16mm footage shot on a Bolex while visiting an area in Sicily where Kersti used to live. She shot on different days but around the same time of day, just before and after sunset. The teenagers are hanging out on a terrace that reminds me of Bertolucci’s Il Conformista. Gangs of teens hung out there every night in small groups, gossiping and smoking cigarettes. In the most casual way, they’d occasionally look down to this epic volcanic rock beach, which is part of the series as well. Those rocks mark the actual site of Polyphemus the cyclops from Homer’s Odyssey. The statue was found in Giardino Bellini (Bellini Park) not too far from the terrace and sea. Not sure what happened to his nose.