Five Italian artists reimagine “Feeling better” (Nonostante)

damoclefilm
Mar 26, 2025
5 min read

Five Italian illustrators have dedicated original illustrations inspired by Chagall's “The Walk” to Valerio Mastandrea's film Feeling Better (Nonostante).

Marco Cazzato

Biography

Cazzato was born in 1975. He lives and works in Turin. Over the years, he has collaborated with Corriere della Sera, Einaudi, Neri Pozza Editore, Il Saggiatore, Bompiani, Rizzoli, La Stampa, Tuttolibri, Corraini Edizioni, Edizioni Piemme, Marsilio Editore, Il Sole 24Ore, GRRRz Comic Art Books, Slow Food, Penguin Random House, Linus, Sony, Jacobin Italia, Bastille Magazine, Gribaudo Editore, Racconti Editore, Emons Editore, Baldini Castoldi Editore, ANIMAls Coniglio Editore, Torino Film Festival, Stresa Festival, Teatro Metastasio, and many others.

Among his publications: “Mood” for Grrrzetic Editore, “Album” for GRRRz Comic Art Books, “Ritratti di umanità” for Corraini Edizioni, with texts by Elvira Dones, curated by ArtePollino. He then illustrated “Niente di nuovo sul fronte occidentale” by Erich Maria Remarque for Neri Pozza Editore, “Fiabe per adulti consenzienti” by Guido Catalano for Rizzoli, “I Sepolcri” by Ugo Foscolo for Il Saggiatore Editore, “La Coscienza di Zeno” by Italo Svevo for Gribaudo Editore, and “Racconti di spettri italiani” for Il Saggiatore Editore.

In the music industry, he designed the album covers for “Canzoni per un figlio” by Marlene Kuntz, “C’eravamo abbastanza amati” by Luci della centrale elettrica, and the artwork for the “Alone” series by Gianni Maroccolo. He also worked on the video for “Il Partigiano” by Flavio Nani for Marlene Kuntz, and alongside Michele Bernardi, he created the animated videos for the 4 volumes of Alone by Gianni Maroccolo. He created visuals for the performance “Nomadic – canto per la biodiversità” by Telmo Pievani and Gianni Maroccolo. Additionally, he has designed posters and curated the image for many events, including the 2011 Torino Film Festival and for La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi and Tosca by Giacomo Puccini for the 2012 and 2013 Spoleto Opera Seasons, among others.

He is represented by Ghirigori Agency.

Gipi

Biography

Gipi was born in Pisa and lives in Rome. He is one of the most important contemporary comic artists at an international level. He made his debut in 2003 with Esterno notte, his first graphic novel. His graphic and narrative talent was established in just a few years and was recognized not only by significant public success but also by prestigious awards in Italy and abroad, including nominations for the Premio Strega, the Premio Goscinny, the Premio Fauve d'Or at the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême, and the Grand Prix de la Critique.

In addition to short stories for magazines and anthologies, his works have been collected in a 15-volume monographic series, Gipi - L'opera completa, published in 2018 by La Repubblica. His books, translated worldwide, are published in Italy by Coconino Press: Esterno notte, Questa è la stanza, Appunti per una storia di guerra, S., LMVDM - La mia vita disegnata male, Unastoria, La terra dei figli (a book that inspired the film of the same name, directed by Claudio Cupellini and produced by Indigo in 2021), and Momenti straordinari con applausi finti.

Gipi has also ventured into cinema and television. After making short films and independent videos with his Santa Maria Video, in 2011 he directed his first feature film, L'ultimo terrestre, produced by Fandango, which was in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. Later, in 2018, he presented Il ragazzo più felice del mondo at Venice.

A lifelong gaming enthusiast, he created and illustrated Bruti (Rulez, 2015), a medieval fantasy card game, which inspired the script for the book Aldobrando (Casterman, 2020), illustrated by Luigi Critone. In 2022, he introduced the first of three volumes of the space saga Barbarone, produced by Rulez. His most recent book is Stacy (Coconino Press, 2023).

Antonio Pronostico

Biography

Antonio Pronostico, born in Tricarico in 1987, is an illustrator and comic artist. He studied Visual Arts in Florence and now lives in Rome. He works in the editorial market, creating comics, covers, and posters.

His collaborations include: The New Yorker, America magazine (France), Bastiglie (France), Glénat, L'Espresso, Internazionale, La Stampa, Domani, Jacobin Italia, Interni, Il Saggiatore, Fandango Libri, Mondadori, Feltrinelli, Alegre Edizioni, Ponte alle Grazie, Sellerio, Bompiani, Gribaudo, Donna Moderna.

In 2022, he created the poster for Book Pride (National Fair of Independent Publishing), 88° Parallelo (Essay Festival), and Job Film Day (Film Festival for Workers' Rights). In 2028, he created the poster for Fiore Verde (Festival des cultures italiennes). In 2024, he created the poster for Più Libri e Più Liberi (National Fair of Small and Medium Publishing). Together with Fulvio Risuleo, he created the comics Sniff (Coconino Press - 2019), Cinque - Giovanni Truppi (Coconino Press Anthology - 2019), Tango (Coconino Press - 2021), and L'Eletto (Coconino Press - 2023).

He has exhibited his work in Italy and France at: Galerie Glénat, Galleria Garacol, Rosso20sette, Tricromia, and Parione9.

Davide Reviati

Biography

Davide Reviati is a comic book author and illustrator. His graphic novels have been translated into many European countries, the USA, Brazil, and South Korea, and have won awards in Italy and abroad, including the Premio Micheluzzi, Premio Romics, Premio Boscarato, Premio Lo Straniero, Prix Diagonale, and dBD Awards. In 2018, his graphic novel Sputa tre volte was selected for the Sélection Officielle at the Angoulême Festival. In 2020, The Guardian included him in their list of the best books of the year.

His works have garnered national and international attention: Corriere della Sera, Repubblica, Internazionale, Linus, Lo Straniero, Le Monde, Canal+, and The New York Times.

He works in publishing, designing covers and illustrations for literary texts. He also writes and illustrates for cinema and theater: he creates storyboards and collaborates on the screenplays of three feature films produced by the Vaca group. Together with Elena Bucci, he is one of the creators of the theatrical project Bambini, which debuted at the 33rd Festival Santarcangelo dei Teatri. In 2021, he collaborated on the theatrical performance Mille anni o giù di lì by Luigi Dadina.

In 2021, he published Ho remato per un lord, an illustrated adaptation of a text by Stig Dagerman.

He lives in Villaggio ANIC, Ravenna.

Zuzu

Biography

ZUZU is an artist born in Salerno. After attending high school, she moved to Rome to study Illustration. At the age of 23, she made her debut with Cheese (Coconino Press, 2019), a comic that originally began as her final thesis at IED. With this book, she won the Premio Satira di Forte dei Marmi for the best graphic novel, the Premio Cecchetto at TCBF, the Gran Guinigi at Lucca Comics & Games, and the Premio Micheluzzi at COMICON in Naples. Cheese was published in France, Spain, and Germany and was nominated in the official selection for the 2022 Angoulême Festival awards.

Among her other publications, she participated in the Fumetti nei Musei project promoted by the Ministry of Culture with the album Super Amedeo. She illustrated the short stories Il tuo numero di telefono for the book Cinque by Giovanni Truppi, Red for the magazine Now, and Life Saviour for Strapazin.

With her comics, she has been a regular collaborator with Robinson (La Repubblica) and with the weekly strip Nuovo sentimento on Internazionale. She also created the opening sequence for Daria Bignardi's program L'assedio and has been a testimonial for Fantabody in campaigns for Vogue, Gucci, and Saucony.