Gianluca Valente

The film follows Nello, the recently hired director of a newly developed work cooperative of former mental patients. After the closure of state psychiatric hospitals and asylums in Italy under the Basaglia Law many former patients were left with few resources and little hope of reintegrating into society. With the intention of actually improving the lives of his pupils, rather than just sedating them, Nello encourages them to expand their individual abilities and explore the wider world around them although, regardless of intention, there is sometimes a price to pushing boundaries too quickly.

When the kooky tenants of an apartment block experience a sudden and shocking situation, they let their private lives, past secrets and crazy passions intervene as the confessions and absurd twists come thick and fast. Previous lovers, wild accusations, a possible murder and more boil to the surface days before New Year’s Eve, but can they even make it until then?

Five searches for love unfold in interconnected stories in which fathers, daughters and male suitors try to perfect love matches based on astrology.