5 musicians go into a place which is surrounded by barbed wire, watched with the curious gaze of the men, women and children from all races who temporarily live there. This is the start of the story of Hadì, a young black man who has fled from his country in the "Third or Fourth world" and of Emanuele Lari Alliano, a young captain in the Marines from a “First World” country. We follow Hadì who tries to survive and gather enough money together to escape from there by sea. After suffering injustice, abuses and violence of all kinds, he is forced to throw himself into the murky waters of the port to finally end up, after a long night of swimming for 2 miles, at a boat, where he finds Alliano. Alliano, who is motivated by an old trauma, irresponsibly hides him in his cabin. And this is the start of a confrontation between two men from very different backgrounds, in cultural, age and ethnic backgrounds, and through this confrontation comes the outpouring of experiences and feelings. Hadì manages to inspire Alliano with the courage needed to overcome human and professional problems, giving him his love of life and of dancing, imbibing him with his natural and ancient love of music. The meeting between the two of them is punctuated with the songs played by the musicians on a stage built in the centre of the refugee camp (it was the place where the musicians at the beginning of the film were heading). In order not to compromise Alliano’s career, Hadì throws himself into the sea at dawn when the boat is nearing the shore of the first world country where he tried to find freedom and justice, as well as a means to express his potential. But even in this part of the country, young coloured men are subjected to the same violence and abuse. In the end he is arrested and brought back to the original country where he came form because he’s been accused of murdering a corrupt policeman who accepted money but who then refused to allow him to get on a boat to escape. Here he is found to be innocent; once again he gets on a boat, this time to be sent back to his own country, and once again he throws himself into the sea to look for his future. In the final scene, during the concert the musicians are holding in the refugee camp, Alliano and Hadì meet up again, and they dance together, with all the occupants of the camp, in a dance of redemption.
From the book of the same name by Joseph Conrad