Robert Budina

On 8 August 1991, an Albanian ship carrying 20,000 people reached the port of Bari. The ship was called the “Vlora”. Mooring was difficult, and some of the passengers jumped overboard to swim to land, while many others chanted “Italia, Italia”, making the victory sign. On 7 August 1991, the ship, returning from Cuba, the “Vlora” had arrived at the port of Durrës with 10,000 tons of sugar in its hold. Work on unloading the sugar was underway when an enormous throng of thousands of people suddenly assailed the ship, forcing the captain to head for Italy. The next morning, waiting for the “Vlora” was an incredulous and stunned city and an empty football stadium where the Albanians were held before being sent back home. Twenty-one years have passed since that day. Most of the people who boarded that ship were sent back to Albania, but the crossings continued and many of them had another go. Today, 4.5 million foreigners live in Italy.

Two people meet up in jail when they come for monthly visits of their spouses. They fall in love after becoming witnesses to a wedding in jail but their relationship has to end because both their spouses get amnesty from the government.

A divorced and unemployed middle-aged pianist, Oliver lives by himself in a small, modest studio, pushing through life even as he faces impossible financial challenges. On a day like any other, on his way to a job interview, Oliver witnesses a minute and clever pickpocket at work on a bus. He is mesmerized by the thief and can't take his eyes off him, to learn how he does it. As his financial situation worsens, Oliver becomes the perfect copy of the pickpocket he met on the bus.