Antonio is a nine-year-old boy to whom grandfather Giuseppe has transmitted his passion for Sicilian puppets. His father, Nino is the owner of a typical restaurant in the historical centre of the city. Yvonne is fifty-year-old black Canadian who has come to Sicily to battle a deep depression.
April, 2020. In Italy, the Covid-19 pandemic has had many victims forcing the government to rigid measures to contain the infection.
A line of about ten has formed in front of the supermarket in the neighborhood of the B&B that Yvonne hosts, of people with surgical masks spaced about three meters from each other. A homeless man is trying to rustle up some coins by approaching people who are walking away from him as if he is the plague.
Yvonne also rejects him by shouting something in French that no one among those present understands less than Antonio. The child approaches the homeless man offering him the few coins he has in his pocket in exchange for a simple but sincere smile. The effect of the child’s gesture towards the homeless man is sculpted into Yvonne’s head. Ciccetto, Antonio’s older brother, heard in a video online that the elderly stuck at home run a particular risk due to the fear created from their sources of information. This fear renders them immune depressed and they are potentially more susceptible to the virus. Antonio’s gutted love for his grandfather rattles him and he immediately has a brilliant idea.
If with fear the neighborhood’s grandparents are likely to get sick, with a smile he will give them the cure to that disease. He decides to create a series of shows with which to convey joy to the elderly in the neighborhood. He launches a video message about happiness which becomes so popular that becomes known as the Sicilian child who cares for the elderly with happiness.
The day arrives when the family’s financial situation, already precarious, plummets drastically.
For this family everything seems to go in the opposite direction of happiness, so praised by Antonio. But the effect of the child’s teachings will leave everyone speechless.
- INITIAL RELEASE : September 2020, ITALY/CANADA
- DIRECTOR : Luca Fortino
- BUDGET : 1.5 Million USD.
- LANGUAGE : Italian , French , English
- CAST : Andrea Tidona, Orio Scaduto, Marie Ange Barbancourt, Antonio Tancredi Cadili