This documentary about the life of Vittorio De Sica, Italian actor and film director, is narrated by Marco Paolini. We begin during the occupation by the Nazis. Vittorio is in Rome shooting a film.

Vittorio De Sica did different kinds of movies, both as an actor, and a director, and had great success, although critics appreciated his comedies more than his serious movies. Whatever kind of film he was directing, he laughed and cried along with the actors. They loved him.

When the Americans bombed Rome in 1943, Maria was shooting a film in the San Lorenzo area, right where the freight yards were, the target of the bombing. Vittorio, on the other side of town, rushed to the site. Life would soon become extremely complicated and dangerous for those in the film industry.

Vittorio De Sica, along with other filmmakers and actors, does not want to be transferred to Venice, as has been mandated by the State. There, he would have to shoot propaganda movies for the Fascists. Luckily a Catholic film company wants to make a movie about a train of sick and deformed people on their way to seek miracles at the shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, a popular pilgrimage destination in the Marches region. The kind of train that carries pilgrims is called un treno bianco (a white train).

Our narrator describes what it was like working on the set of La porta del cielo (the Gates of Heaven): the extras, the dangers, the boredom, and the strategies for keeping the cast and crew safe. He also explains how they reconstructed the railway carriages that are featured so prominently in the film.

To recreate the environment of the San Loreto church, the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls was used for the final scene of the film. The crew was accustomed to working in a non-religious setting where they could do as they liked, so it was a full-time job trying to keep their bad habits (such as smoking) in check so they wouldn't get kicked out by their hosts.

During the filming of Heaven's Gate, there were some dicey moments where De Sica had to deal with the German troops and needed all his wits about him. At the same time his crew was cooped up in the basilica and didn't always behave as they should — in fact, tutt'altro (anything but). The narrator also mentions an anecdotal story Fellini told about his experience with the Germans.

Actors, including Alberto Sordi, who were performing at the Quattro Fontane (four fountains) theater on the fateful day of 23 March 1944 are in danger of being caught by the Germans. During the filming of his movie, De Sica leaves the safety of the basilica just once and is caught and questioned by a Nazi General about why the film is taking so long to be shot.

The general hands De Sica a letter from Goebbels himself but since De Sica can't read German, it is translated for him ad alta voce (out loud). It's an invitation to Venice, which De Sica does not want to accept.

Vittorio De Sica put himself on the line in order to save his cast and crew, and the film he was making. This final segment describes how he managed to complete La porta del cielo (The Gates of Heaven). The song we hear at the end of this documentary is very famous and was sung by Vittorio De Sica himself for the movie Gli uomini, che mascalzoni... in which he acted. Listen to the entire song here.

What does it mean to be a European? Is the variety of languages in Europe an obstacle to actual unification? Umberto Eco explores these questions and offers some interesting insight.

Serena is near one of the beaches of her town, Maratea, where she lives with her family and she tells us a few things about herself.

Serena takes us to visit her house, where besides all the things her mother collects, there's a fireplace, and a view of the sea.

Journalist Annalena Benini introduces us to different writers from different places in Italy, beginning with Rome, where she interviews Chiara Gamberale, a novelist.

Chiara Gamberale talks about how and where she writes, and how her life has changed now that she has a little girl.

Chiara tells about how she realized she knew how to read, which then led her to begin writing. She wrote her first "novel" in second grade. Where she grew up, on the outskirts of Rome, influence her writing to a significant degree.

Annalena meets up with Paolo Giordano who talks about the trauma of moving from Turin to Rome. Giordano's first novel, La solitudine dei numeri primi (the solitude of prime numbers) from 2008 was made into a popular film of the same name in 2010.

Annalena continues talking with Paolo Giordano, who talks about how places such as Afghanistan and Apulia have influenced his writing.

The great Lucio Dalla offers this song in support of a campaign aimed at raising sensitivity towards those with disabilities, looking at them without prejudice, as people with the same dignity and desire for happiness as everyone else. Learn more at www.pubblicitaprogresso.org

Silvia is an editor (in real life) for Il Fatto Quotidiano (The Daily Event), a national newspaper with some special characteristics. Silvia tells us what kind of news she covers, and some of the problems she encounters.

Marino meets Silvana and they start chatting by the sea. They discover that their professions are related (naturopathy and body-psychotherapy) and they enjoy sharing ways of looking at emotions and symbols.

People seem to think Alberto is a bit nuts. He's about to go on live TV, and people around him hope he doesn't botch it. The name of the TV show is Non è mai troppo tardi (it's never too late). What's implied in the title is that it's never to late to learn to read and write. In Italian, a person who never learned to read or write is called analfabeta.

In Italy, at least in the past, the process of distributing teaching jobs was a real jungle, as you will see. The list, assembled by a complicated point system, involving test scores, experience, seniority, etc, was what would determine whether an aspiring teacher would have a job that year or not. Alberto Manzi knows he is qualified, but gets an unpleasant surprise at the education office.

Manzi goes to the reform school for his first day of teaching and finds out all the things he will or won't be able to do.