Michele Astori

An elderly shepherd takes on big business when he becomes the only holdout against property developers building a luxury resort in his tiny Sardinian village.

An actor past his prime gives drama lessons to prisoners in an attempt to stage "Waiting for Godot."

While Arturo tries to gain the love of Flora, he witnesses the history of Sicily from 1969 to 1992, miraculously dodging the crimes of the Mafia and supporting as a journalist the heroic struggle of the judges and policemen who fought this infamous organization.

Arturo loses his tech job to an algorithm he created and ends up working as a delivery man, monitored by an unreasonably strict app. His only solace comes from Stella, a hologram-for-girlfriend whose free trial is running out. Unable to renew the subscription due to his financial uncertainty, Arturo decides to take a stand.

Elementary school teacher Michele Cortese is about to start a whole new life. After 40 years of teaching in the metropolitan Roman jungle, he had to move to a village in Central Italy, to teach in a tiny school with just a few children aged 7-10. Struggling to overcome his urban inadequacy, he finds a friendly face in vice-principal Agnese and gradually manages to fit in, thanks to her and their spirited pupils. As everything seems to be falling into place, unwelcome news comes through: the school has failed to meet its student quota for the next year and will soon be shut for good.

It's 1943 and World War II is raging in Europe. In New York, Arturo and Flora the daughter of a restaurant owner are in love, but she is promised in marriage to the son of a Mafia boss. There is a way around this, but to be able to marry Flora, Arturo needs to get permission from her father, who lives in a village in Sicily. Arturo doesn't have any money, so the only way he can get to Sicily is to enlist in the U.S. Army, which is preparing for a landing on the island.

Arturo is a lonely, gluttonous, and disillusioned Sicilian real estate agent. His mundane life finally finds its spark through his one true passion: Sicilian pastries. It’s over a tray of cannoli that he meets his soulmate, Flora. She is everything he ever dreamed of—beautiful, witty, and brilliant. To top it off, she’s a pastry chef. However, a divine obstacle stands between them: God. While Flora is a devout, fervent Catholic, Arturo abandoned his faith as a child. Desperate not to lose the woman of his dreams, he decides to "fake it 'til he makes it," pretending to be a man of deep conviction. Guiding Arturo on this chaotic journey toward truth, faith, and Flora’s heart is an unlikely mentor and friend: Pope Francis himself.

By presenting archive footage along with his own life story, filmmaker Gabriele Salvatores mediates an illustration of the economic boom in Italy during the 1960s.