As if in a dream, a young girl recounts the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and the questions raised by the myth. Heartsick from suffering, Orpheus descends into the Underworld to bring his beloved Eurydice who has just died from a snake bite back. The magnificent music played by Orpheus convinces Hades, the god of the Underworld, to free Eurydice, but on one condition : on his way back to Earth, Orpheus must not look back at Eurydice. On finally arriving at the gates of the Underworld, already catching glimpses of trees and bushes, Orpheus looks back. Eurydice disappears forever into darkness.
Set during a “beautiful summer” in Turin in 1938, against the backdrop of Fascist-era Italy’s subsequent entry into World War II. sees the 18-year-old Cassell as the uninhibited model Amelia. She introduces her younger friend Ginia to a world of bohemian artists where she will fall in love for the first time.
In a small village somewhere in the Apennines, taciturn Antimo divides his time between the local church, his tedious work on the farm and his chaste meetings with his girlfriend. His pivotal encounter with the wild loner Lazzaro awakens in the devout young man the desire to reach the very core of a faith far removed from the regular Sunday sermons delivered by a representative of the Church – a powerful institution for which freethinking and devotion to God represent incompatible ideas.
On a winter’s day, Nena gathers her family to celebrate her birthday. Il paradiso del pavone is a small journey into the intimacy and authenticity of human beings: a film about an extended family in which everyone talks but no one really listens. Until an unexpected event forces the family members to look into each other’s eyes and reveal themselves for what they really are.
After growing up in Switzerland, 13-year-old Marta returns to a city in southern Italy with her mother and older sister. Independent and inquisitive, she joins a catechism class at a local church. However, the games and religious pop songs she encounters there do not nearly satisfy her interest in faith. Struggling to find her place, Marta pushes the boundaries of the class, the priest, and the church.