After the India of Varanasi’s boatmen, the American desert of the dropouts, and the Mexico of the killers of drugtrade, Gianfranco Rosi has decided to tell the tale of a part of his own country, roaming and filming for over two years in a minivan on Rome’s giant ring road—the Grande Raccordo Anulare, or GRA—to discover the invisible worlds and possible futures harbored in this area of constant turmoil. Elusive characters and fleeting apparitions emerge from the background of the winding zone: a nobleman from the Piemonte region and his college student daughter sharing a one-room efficiency in a modern apartment building along the GRA.

The documentary tells a compelling and emotionally charged story that unfolds along the Tiber River starting in 1999, following the lives of two families of eel fishermen who have lived and worked for generations on an urban stretch of the river, near the Grande Raccordo Anulare ring road in southern Rome. On one side are Cesare and Alfredo, known as the “Rosci”, two brothers who embody the tradition and pride of a family that has always been linked to ancient river traditions. On the other side are their historic rivals, Nando and Franco, known as the “Ciccioni”, who live with their elderly mother, Sister Irene, a central figure who acts as the emotional and moral hub of the family. However, everything changes with the arrival of Anwar, a young migrant from Bangladesh, who is able to open up the millennial flow of the river to contact with new cultures.