Childhood and studies in Pisa. Political commitment with communist training in France with Amendola and Negarville, partisan struggles with the ‘Eugenio Curiel’ brigade and militancy in the PCI. Early film experiences alongside Yves Allegrét, Steno and Mario Monicelli, the Golden Lion and Oscar nomination for ‘The Battle of Algiers’. The friendship and artistic partnership with Franco Solinas and the establishment of the literary prize in his honor. The ‘Cinemavvenire’ association, the direction of the Venice Film Festival, the presidency of Cinecittà Holding and the creation of the International Institute for Cinema and Audiovisual of Latin Countries. Full-length portrait of one of the greatest exponents of Italian cinema but also of the political and social life of our country told by his family, the women who accompanied him throughout his life (his wife Picci, his sister Laura), the people who collaborated with him in Venice, and his lifelong friends, Montaldo, Maselli, Tortorella.