Toni Servillo

Nnedima runs to another town because of the responsibility to pay the debt her late father owes to a local tyrant, but like a shadow, her past will haunt her happiness.

A no-place where history has demanded and taken everything it wanted. In return for this history, we received stories, those handed down by word or lost. Three pivotal moments in the history of contemporary Italy are observed through the viewpoint of an equal number of children, all of them immersed in a nowhere land: a girl who loses her mother to the Spanish flu in the midst of the Great War, another who witnesses the Nazis taking control of her war-torn homeland, and a boy who abandons the countryside during the turbulent "Years of Lead" compose a triptych filled with love for all those narratives that were preserved through oral tradition, eventually etching themselves deep into the collective memory of three generations.

Daughter of immigrants, an idealistic American architect struggles to keep her dream alive as she journeys to discover why America abandoned World's Fairs. Presenting the power of architecture on the world's imagination, and its ability to affect a nation's dreams - FACE OF A NATION: What happened to the World's Fair?" captures erosion of the American image at one of the most important events in showcasing a nation's influence on the international stage. A reminder that "to keep the dream alive," we must never lose sight of our vision and values. Probing deeply into national identity, Mina Chow investigates the controversy surrounding U.S. participation at World's Fairs for the last 25 years. The film asks important questions about the country's role in the world and perceptions of the American image. With our diminished presence at World's Fairs, have we lost sight of what it means to be American? —Mina Chow Twenty years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in which iconic American buildings were deliberately targeted, the connection between design and global politics continues to be highlighted in provocative visual symbolism, extreme positions about cultural sites, and identity politics at international borders. The film documents unfavorable international perceptions about the U.S. when design excellence at World's Fairs is neglected. World's Fairs (i.e.-Expos) are important opportunities for people from various countries to engage peacefully with others around the world on an actual site;to diffuse conflict face-to-face "within the last 3 feet." Architectural excellence uses the substance of the real world to influence and engage people. A powerful persuasion without words. The highest quality design at World's Fairs is an important opportunity to reshape our American story with international audiences on a real-world stage. —Mina Chow