Head Carpenter
War seen through the eyes of Serra, a university student from Palermo who volunteers in 1942 to fight in Africa. He is assigned to the Pavia Division on the southern line in Egypt. Rommel and the Axis forces are bogged down; it's October, the British prepare an offensive. At first, boredom, heat, hunger, and thirst bedevil the Italians; then the Brits attack, and there's no luck or heroism in death. Finally, it's retreat in confusion. Serra, his sergeant Rizzo, and his lieutenant Fiori take a last walk toward home. It's said that each soldier gets three miracles; when Serra's are used up, what then?
Seamstress
Studying to become a teacher in 1950s Northern Italy, Sicilian immigrant Pietro is joined by his older brother Giovanni. While Giovanni is an illiterate worker, Pietro shows considerable promise in his field, prompting the elder sibling to take on even the toughest jobs in order to support his brother's academic pursuits.
Seamstress
In 18th-century Sicily, deaf-mute highborn Marianna Ucrìa is forced to marry his uncle Pietro, a disgusting old man, at age 13. She bears three children before even turning 16, when she finally gives birth to a boy. Despite everything, she'll find a way to emancipate herself from the oppressive social conventions of the time.
