Shun Li and the Poet

Zhao Tao won the 2012 David di Donatello for Best Actress for her performance as Shun Li.

[2] Shun Li (Zhao Tao) has been working in a textile workshop in the outskirts of Rome for eight years to pay off her debt to the human traffickers in order to bring her son to Italy.

She is suddenly transferred to Chioggia, a small island town situated in the Venetian lagoon, to work as a bartender.

Bepi (Rade Šerbedžija), a fisherman of Slavic origin, nicknamed "the Poet", has been visiting the bar for years.

But the friendship between Shun Li and Bepi disturbs both communities, Chinese and Chioggia, which hinders this new journey, which perhaps is simply still too scary.