Suddenly, Last Winter

In 2006, a general election in Italy gave a slim majority to a center-left coalition that promised legislation to provide civil unions and other rights to gay couples. In 2007, the government proposed a piece of moderate legislation, "diritti di coppie conviventi" (rights for cohabiting couples) or DICOs; it's quickly clear they face tough sledding in the Senate. Luca Ragazzi and Gustav Hofer, a couple for eight years, with camera in hand, follow the Senate proceedings weekly, seek interviews with politicians, attend anti-DICO rallies, and ask questions of persons in the street. The focus includes the meaning of family and Italy's implicit union of church and state.