South Tyrol, 1961. The northern Italian region is shaken by a series of separatist attacks. While Paul, a young farmer’s son, dreams of escaping the lack of prospects in his village to study painting, his older brother Anton participates in an uncompromising battle to safeguard the German-speaking minority. When Anton is exposed as one of the bombers, he is forced to flee, leaving the farm and his family behind. Paul reluctantly takes care of Anton's wife Anna and their young son.