Over the course of three days, Marco Paolini interviews Luigi Meneghello (1922-2007) about growing up under fascism, his involvement with the Italian resistance movement, his later self-exile, acclaimed literary work and its relationship with dialect.
During the 20 months before Italy's liberation from Fascism, a group of university students trade empty rhetoric for action by joining the Partisans into the mountains of Nazi-occupied northern Italy. There, group leader Gigi falls in love with his best friend's girl. As the Resistance struggle continues, some of the "little teachers" are killed, and the brutal reality of war leaves its mark on their youthful idealism.
