dir. Marco Risi Set in Rosaspina, a fictionary juvenile detention centre in Palermo, Sicily, during the 1980s. Marco Terzi, is a teacher who has been transferred to Palermo from Milan. He obtains a temporary position as teacher inside the institution, waiting to start teaching in a high school, and has great difficulty in establishing a rapport with the young, hostile students; in particular, Natale, the leader of the group, who is inside for murder. Terzi's situation is further complicated when Mery Libassi, a trans prostitute caught for defending herself against a client, falls in love with him. With the passing of time, however, Terzi slowly gains the respect and admiration of his students, even from the most hardened of youngsters, but he comes in contrast with the director and the warders.