Milano 2015 started out as a sort of revisitation of Ermanno Olmi's documentary Milano '83, which premiered at the 40th Venice Film Festival and promptly incurred the censors' wrath, only to resurface at a recent screening in Milan in 2013. On that occasion, Olmi himself spoke about the need to revive the spirit of civic virtue. This would inspire the idea of an anthology film that could capture and interpret the myriad contemporary mentalities that go into creating Milan's identity. The documentary is a joint effort between three established filmmakers, Silvio Soldini, Giorgio Diritti and Walter Veltroni, and three directors at their debut, coming from different artistic backgrounds: actress Cristiana Capotondi, dancer Roberto Bolle and the musician Elio.
Milano 2015 portrays the city by delving into its different layers, imagining the urban space as divided into a number of levels, from the underground to the sky. People, places, feelings and reflections, evocations of the past and contemporary glimpses: all are invoked in the quest to pin down the living spirit of this great city.