White as Milk, Red as Blood 2013

Filippo Scicchitano portrays Leo, a young third-year high school student who is in love with Beatrice, Gaia Weiss as Beatrice, a French girl he meets mostly at school or at the bus stop. Aurora Ruffino plays Silvia, his classmate who has loved him since childhood and is his best friend.

After the Easter holidays, Beatrice is hospitalized due to leukemia, and Leo’s determination to help her grows stronger. He decides to become a bone marrow donor, hoping to save her life, only to discover that their bone marrow is not compatible, which devastates him. Meanwhile, at school, Leo forms a bond with a young English substitute teacher nicknamed The Dreamer, who encourages his students to chase their dreams, and Leo seeks guidance from this mentor.

Silvia regrets having given Leo the wrong number for Beatrice, and she encourages him to confess his love. Beatrice, however, recognizes that Silvia and Leo were meant for each other and tells him that their love is true.

The girl, very ill, lies to Leo, claiming that she has found a compatible bone marrow donor, that she would travel to France with her family for two months, and finally asks him not to call her. Leo is later summoned from the hospital because his marrow is compatible with a sick person. After a long discussion with Beatrice’s parents and with Silvia’s help, she convinces them and goes to the hospital, where she donates the marrow to a young mother, saving her life and discovering the greatness of her gesture with Silvia by her side. But soon Leo learns that the transplant isn’t enough; Beatrice pretends to be recovering to spare him pain, and when Beatrice dies toward the end of the school year, Leo finds himself with no more dreams to live for, yet he discovers Silvia’s love.