August 1991. As post-Communist Albania starts falling apart, Giorgio seeks refuge in Italy. He and thousands of his fellow refugees are locked up in the football stadium in Bari for wont of a sufficiently large holding area. Giorgio escapes from the camp, steals a small boat and sets out in search of his grandfather who lives in Pietrecamela, a small village in the Abruzzi Mountains. Unfortunately his grandfather is dead. Giorgio is lucky to find a job as a shepherd but the peace and serenity of the mountains is only apparent. Giorgio falls in love with Luisa, a young teacher and virtually the only eligible female in the village. However Silvester considers Luisa his fiancée and blinded by jealousy, he reports Giorgio to the police but before they manage to get to Pietrecamela, there is a violent confrontation between the two rivals. Silvester is mortally wounded and Giorgio is arrested. Luisa, who thinks she might be pregnant with Giorgio’s baby, is left alone.
Fast forward to August 1999. Giorgio is back in Italy after serving several years in an Italian prison and then being deported to Albania. He is an apprentice in a gang whose leader is a Russian criminal called Ivan Elson. Giorgio must solve a serious problem that has arisen as a result of his indecision. A young woman from Kosovo who worked for Ivan’s gang as a prostitute, runs away and Giorgio must find her. He has three days to bring her back or to find a replacement. While he searches for the girl, he comes across Luisa who now lives in Rome and works as a hairdresser. They pass a night of passion together and decide to escape to Pietrecamela where a seven-year old boy is waiting for them... his parents.