Based on Érico Verissimo's literary trilogy, Time and the Wind follows 150 years of the Terra Cambará family and their opponents, the Amaral family. The struggles between the two families begin in the missions and lasts until the end of the 19th century. The film also features the period of formation of the state of Rio Grande do Sul and the dispute of territory between the Portuguese and Spanish crowns.

After a shooting assignment, Henrique is mugged by two armed motor-bikers who steal his camera and speed off. Seconds later, he watches both get hit by a pickup truck driven by a self-appointed avenger, someone weary of feeling defenseless against the urban violence, and who decided to take action. Henrique recovers his stolen equipment and leaves, feeling avenged. But he goes back to find the memory card, with the photos, lost during the crash. From that moment, he is trapped in a situation where he is now the criminal for failing to rescue a victim, who had been his aggressor. Going from the murder scene to the police station, and then to the emergency ward of the public hospital, he attempts to clear himself.

Sandro was a boy who loved to sing rap, to kiss, to stare the statue of Christ the Redeemer and dreamed to go visit Copacabana. Growing up on streets, the story culminates at the infamous episode of 12th June 2000, when Sandro hijacked bus 174.