Over the course of its almost 70 years of activity, the Associazione Nazionale Autori Cinematografici (National Association of Film Writers) – founded in 1952 by Zavattini, Amidei, Rossellini, and many others – hasn't only waged battles for film policy but also for civil commitment and Italian culture. Members of the association include people of the caliber of De Sica, Pasolini, Damiani, Scola, Age, Scarpelli, Rosi, and Cecchi d’Amico, all of whom were great intellectuals before they were film writers. Through direct testimony and with hitherto unpublished interviews with Lizzani, Gregoretti, Maselli, Montaldo, Bellocchio, Wertmuller, Gamba, and Cavani (from the archives of the Istituto Luce and the ANAC archive), the film traces the stages of this extraordinary history of the second half of the 20th century in Italy.