A famous Italian director, Salvatore, returns to the tiny Sicilian village of his childhood after more than 30 years away, upon hearing that his old friend Alfredo has passed away. Once home, he is transported back into alternately warm, funny and bittersweet memories of his coming-of-age, most of it done against the backdrop of the stone-built local cinema, the Paradiso, where Alfredo was the projectionist and the inspirer of dreams. Salvatore recalls the innocence and insatiable curiosity of his youth, his taste of first love, the madness of war and, most of all, how the glowing lights of the Paradiso made far away worlds, and the very idea of the future, come alive for the whole town. Even if the local priest staunchly censored all love scenes, the movies still had a way of sustaining the village’s spirit – and the theatre itself became a place where the citizens howled and wept, caressed and smoked, nursed their babies and…