In 1986, Rita Levi-Montalcini receives the Nobel Prize, but something is missing. After meeting a young violinist, the scientist faces a difficult choice: take refuge in fame or get back in the game.

It is Christmas 1908 in Messina, one of the richest merchant cities of the Mediterranean. Peter, the 13 year-old son of a rich English family is notorious for his cruelty to children, animals and servants. One night he is ambushed and wakes up in a coffin underground in the city's Gothic cemetery, buried in retaliation for his callousness by a servant boy from his mother's estate. When a powerful earthquake razes Messina to the ground, Peter is trapped and his whereabouts are forgotten. Until a century later an English archaeologist and his daughter arrive in the city.

Set in the late 1960s, the film explores the issues of immigration, community values and family devotion through the eyes of a young girl, Lucia, who is left behind with her grandmother while her parents emigrate to France to find work. Lucia pains to be with her family as she struggles to learn her role in the tiny, traditional village under the watchful guidance of her stern grandmother.

Jack is a motorcyclist and Greta is a music student. They share a chemistry they cannot deny and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. But Greta is sick.

Andrea Licari, a Tunisian of Italian descent now 60 years of age, has become an accomplished author, college professor and a leading thinker in Rome. Today, Andrea finds himself facing the most challenging time of his life.

Set against the backdrop of 20th-century Sicily, the sicilian storyteller chronicles the tumultuous life of Rosa Balistreri, a legendary figure in Sicilian folk music.