Margherita Ferri

Garfagnana, Italy, 1347. The handsome servant Masseto, fleeing from his vindictive master, takes shelter in a nunnery where three young nuns, Sister Alessandra, Sister Ginevra and Sister Fernanda, try unsuccessfully to find out what their purpose in life is, a conundrum that each of them faces in different ways.

Samuel, a boy who lives with his mother Elena in Villa dei Laghi, an isolated manor surrounded by woods, feels trapped in the family routine, growing up seemingly protected, but unsatisfied and restless.

On 20 November 2012, 15-year-old Andrea Spezzacatena took his life, becoming the first reported case in Italy of bullying and cyberbullying leading to a minor's suicide. The triggering incident was his choice to wear a pair of red trousers, a gift from his mother, which turned pink due to a washing mishap.

Maia, called ZEN, a rowdy yet solitary 16-year-old tomboy living in a small village on top of the Italian Apennines, is the only girl of the local ice hockey-team and she is constantly bullied by her teammates for her masculine attitude. When Vanessa – the beautiful and bewildered girlfriend of the team captain – runs away from home and hides in Maia‘s family lodge, Maia feels free to trust someone for the first time: they both embark on a journey of self-discovery exploring their inner desires and their identity.

Gianni is sixty. He is retired but has not become lazy for all that. In fact he is a helpful fellow who gives a hand to all those who need one: shopping for his wife, walking the pretty neighbor's dog, and so on. Everybody likes Gianni, but is it for the right reasons? Doesn't his wife profit by the situation (she still works so it is only logical that Gianni do all the chores)? Isn't he subject to the excruciating whims of his rich mother?... Sure, everybody LIKES Gianni, but who LOVES him? Agreed, being kind to them, he is the ladies pet, but he does not attract them anymore. That is why, when his macho lawyer friend Alfonso blames him for not having young mistresses "like every other senior Italian male", Gianni, who is beginning to ask himself questions about what it is like to become old, starts chasing dames.

Didier, a boy of sub-Saharan origin, dreams of building his own boat made of pizza boxes. His father Amir brings home a pizza every night to add a piece to his masterpiece. But one night a storm destroys Didier's boat.

While controversy rages in Italy about so-called 'gender ideology', considered to be the source of all evils, on the Romagnola Riviera the Di Nuzzo's hold a totally different view. A day at the beach and a breakdance competition: the portrait of a family trying to understand and support the natural inclinations of their children, regardless of the general opinion defending the dominance of biological gender and established socio-cultural roles.