The oldest and most famous palio – a rough-and-tumble bareback horserace – takes place twice yearly (July and August) in the heart of Tuscany. Lots are drawn for ten stallions from ten of Siena’s districts. The jockeys – uncritically praised in success and mercilessly castigated in failure – contemplate which team’s colors they will wear this time. Passionate fans crowd the pavement, windows, bays, and balconies of the Piazza del Campo. The traditional race, in which equestrian skill and strategy play a major role – as do backroom wheeling and dealing – can now begin... The main characters of this rigorously crafted docudrama are palio legend Gigi Bruschelli, a master of intrigue, who needs just two more wins to break the all-time record, and his former trainee Giovanni Atzeni, a young star on the rise. The thrilling spectacle, whose camera and dynamic editing could vie with the technical mastery of a silver screen epic, captures the suspense, emotion, movement, and gesture in their most crystalline form.