Life is Beautiful is the 1997 dramatic comedy, directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. It received three Oscars. The film takes place in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. Guido (Benigni) in order to protect his son, pretends that the Jewish deportation and the war are just a game, with the final prize: a tank.

La Strada (The Road) is a 1954 film directed by Federico Fellini, with Anthony Quinn and Giulietta Masina. The film was partly shot at the famous Saltanò Circus, with actors and extras taken from that circus. Fellini changed the name of Anthony Quinn’s character from Saltanò into Zampanò, maybe for copyright reasons. The picture won an Oscar for best foreign film in 1957. It was the year the foreign prize was instituted and it allowed Fellini to break out from national boundaries.

The story of four young women, aged seventeen, who were born into upper middle class families in a provincial Italian city. Their perfect lives, their high profile families, their shopping, their sports activities, their boyfriends, and their exclusive parties are all a huge bore for them. Elena, the group’s leader, finds herself in a strange situation when their newly arrived teacher, Mario Landi, enters unknowingly into their adolescent games.

Lecce, in the 1990s. Ignazio is an esteemed judge who has recently returned to the city after working for many years in the north. He meets Lucia again, the woman he has secretly loved since childhood. The woman works as a perfumes representative, but this is just a front. In reality, Lucia has become the right hand woman of the boss Carmine Za, one of the heads of Sacra Corona Unita (United Sacred Heart), the new criminal organization that in 90s reached its apex of power and ferocity.

In class, Barbara recites a Petrarch sonnet, proving to be much further ahead than her classmates in the curriculum. In reaction, the teacher decides to assign double the homework for all her students. Meanwhile, Sara continues her battle, trying to convince Marioni to give her the chance to play. For more about this sonnet and a paraphrase, see this article. See also this Yabla lesson.

Paolo is worried about the future and dissatisfied with his job at Cosider. Maura is by his side and together they decide to go to Rome to see how things evolve.

Irene becomes furious with Luca when she discovers that he is obsessively following and controlling Marco, while she does busy work in a shop to distract herself from her own thoughts. Meanwhile, Barbara arrives at the new school and Sara goes to the school director with a particular request.

Paolo briefly improvises to announce Jannacci's absence and, between jokes and banter, gets a surprisingly positive response from the audience. After saying goodbye to Chiesa backstage, he is approached by a well-known figure who makes him a proposal.

Barbara and her mother appear decidedly more serene, and Barbara seems ready to start over. Meanwhile, at Rosario's house, his parents try to reassure him in anticipation of the meeting with his birth mother.

Silvia concludes her speech with a phrase invented thanks to the restaurant: "Welcome to prison".
Thanks to Silvia's cooperative, many inmates have successfully completed their reintegration path by working in the restaurant industry and protecting their dignity.

Everything is ready for the dinner to celebrate the seven-year anniversary of the restaurant "In Galera" and Davide talks about how he feels after those seven years. At dinner, Silvia gives a brief speech to the packed dining room.

Silvia goes to see Davide in the kitchen to see what he will propose for dinner. Davide is very organized and has everything under control, and is a bit short with Silvia. Maybe he is nervous about a special evening.

In this short segment, we see how the kitchen is organized based on deliveries and workload. Silvia asks for permission before entering Davide's workspace in the kitchen.

The manager of the restaurant "In galera", Silvia, explains why she wants to give inmates a chance by employing them. She maintains that not being free doesn't mean taking away dignity as well.

Michele is negotiating with Nicoletta about the gift he wants to give to the Kazakh. Back at the Nest, he wants to make sure it gets delivered as soon as possible. Iolde is still very upset about the newspaper article.