Rome in the eighties. Famous film director Salvatore di Vitta returns home late at night to find a message from his aging mother – "Alfredo has passed away".– The few words are enough to bring a flood of memories. Without hesitation he takes the next flight home to the Sicilian village of Giancaldo for the first time in almost 30 years. Salvatore reminisces about his childhood in the village from the time he was 9; the sad period at the end of the war, living with his mother and sister, waiting desperately for the return of his father lost in Russia. He is also reminded of his lost teenage love, Elena; his one grande passion. Above all, he remembers his friendship with Alfredo, the projectionist at the local theater, ’Cinema Paradiso’, who became, in a way, his spiritual father and who first engendered his love of film. Their relationship embraced pleasure and tragedy, but ultimately shaped the way for a young boy to grow up and leave his rundown village in pursuit of a dream.