Nino Rota, the first Italian composer to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score: prolific, refined yet capable of striking deep emotional chords with audiences worldwide. Rota wrote memorable themes for Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather Parts I and II), Luchino Visconti (The Leopard, Rocco and His Brothers), King Vidor (War and Peace), Franco Zeffirelli (Romeo and Juliet) and, of course, Federico Fellini. The White Sheik, I Vitelloni, La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, 8½, Juliet of the Spirits, Amarcord, Casanova, to utter these titles is to instantly recall their melodies.
Beyond his extraordinary contribution to cinema (with 150 film scores to his credit) Rota composed operas, ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works, cementing his place among the greatest composers of the 20th century.
The film, a multifaceted, poetic portrait of this unique personality, is a journey through some of the most iconic moments in film history, where the soundtrack becomes an essential part of the storytelling. The film unfolds through evocative archival material and compelling interviews with who either worked with him or were deeply influenced by his work, including director Park Chan-wook, Academy Award-winning composer Alexandre Desplat, and seven-time Grammy Award-winning conductor and arranger Vince Mendoza who directs the Orchestra of Bari Conservatory, in Southern Italy, that Rota directed for 40 years. The rehearsals and the concert are the backbone of the film.

Director's note

Nino Rota’s music is so extraordinary that making a film about it is a simple gesture, you just have to make room for the music. This wonderful creative and expressive mystery is embodied in the art and life story of a man who, from a very young age, showed he understood its deepest secrets.
“A new Mozart," he was dubbed when he conducted an Oratorio of his own composition at just eleven years old, carried in triumph by a curious and adoring audience. This was only the beginning of an extraordinary artistic journey that spanned the 20th century, from its early decades until 1979, the year of his sudden passing.
Reconstructing his life means telling the story of a man fully immersed in and devoted to music. Warm yet reserved, famously absent-minded yet steadfast in his convictions, Rota is renowned for his exceptional work in cinema (which initially drew criticism from those who viewed film scores as a lesser form of musical expression). However, his actual repertoire is vast and of extraordinary quality, and he remains one of the most frequently performed Italian composers in the world today. After Milan and Rome, he chose to live in Bari, a city for which he would become an incredible engine of growth.
The film portrays a man whose essence was at times elusive, a figure of great depth who, through music, sought to express the beauty of life and the importance of a constant yearning for personal growth and awareness.