SYNOPSIS:

After a life spent working at the Italian Telecom company, the Signor Gino is retired and lives with his beloved wife Ines the rather unexciting life of a pensioner in Milan: a routine made of shopping at the market, chatting with long-time friends, and the occasional trip at the Opera in Verona. Besides, especially in the last years, he has troubles in recognizing the city where he spent most of his life. It's as if the spirit of "his" hometown, Milan, has somehow changed: the market is full of foreigners, he perceives the roads as dirty and unsafe.. and people seem less friendly. Perhaps he's really aging. One day he happens to help a young mum with a stroller getting off the tram. The woman replies "Shukran", and her older son translates the "Thank you" from Arabic. Impulsevely he asks the boy where they are from, and the answer comes like a fresh breeze: Algeria. It sounds like exotic music to his ears, as sweet as the "thank you" in Arabic he just heard. Their paths cross again a few days later, and the young boy, Salim, easily becomes his protégé: the old man unwinds aspects of the city to an adventurous, clever boy, and in return discovers - a small step after the other - Salim's world and the culture of his parents. Finding that, surprisingly, is not so different from his own. Visiting Algeria sounds every day an idea less and less crazy, and he starts gathering information to prepare a trip for their wedding anniversary. Until when he sees a reportage on the uprisings that affected most of the North Africa, and starts to worry about safety. Adding worries to his, people around him try to dissuade him - they sound reasonable and a bit scary. He finally makes up his mind and decides to ask about safety in Algeria to the boy's mother, Zaina, The open conversation with the woman clears his doubts, and has a deeper meaning. He discovers in the world of the woman a sense of strenght, the force driving all those who have a bigger dream, that prompt him to finally take action. He has made up his mind: no matter what well-meaning friend say, no matter if his son will think they're both insane… this year, he will gift Ines with a trip to celebrate their wedding anniversary. A trip to celebrate their love, freedom and hope, in spite of all fragility and fears - the only thing that really makes you old. A trip to Algeria.