Situated some 200km off Italy's southern coast, Lampedusa has hit world headlines in recent years as the first port of call for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants hoping to make a new life in Europe. Rosi spent months living on the Mediterranean island, capturing its history, culture and the current everyday reality of its 6,000-strong local population as hundreds of migrants land on its shores on a weekly basis. The resulting documentary focuses on 12-year-old Samuele, a local boy who loves to hunt with his slingshot and spend time on land even though he hails from a culture steeped in the sea.
Four different instances in the life of the same woman, as this is divided into four significant periods of her existence, such as childhood, puberty, adolescence and adulthood, all representing fragments and diverse aspects of her being as its central focal point. Emotionally damaged, Renée is a caring school teacher who is committed to the education of the underprivileged youth, trying to get pregnant with her boyfriend in an attempt to straighten up her life. However, her past is going to catch up with her in the shape of Tara, a self-destructive, addicted gambler, who has some unfinished business with her which date back some seven years ago. As we make a step back in time, we find Sandra, a careless and fresh young woman in her twenties, who is introduced to the world of horse races by the professional gambler, the elderly Lev who gives her a job at the racetrack as a "mule" carrying bet money to the cashiers. Later on and further back in time, Karine is an early-developed.
"I do not care if we go down in history as barbarians." These words, spoken in the Council of Ministers of the summer of 1941, started the ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front. The film attempts to comment on this statement.
It is a film about the act of drawing, its meaning and its imperative necessity.