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Astor Place Hairstylists, a fixture of Manhattan's East Village neighborhood for over 75 years, was closing as of Thanksgiving because of the pandemic. Over the years the barbershop had become simultaneously a beacon of New York City cool, a constant status symbol among punks and celebrities like Andy Warhol and Robert de Niro, a tourist favorite, and a reliable neighborhood barber where ordinary New Yorkers could pop in for a cheap, fashionable cut. Opened in 1947 and owned for three generations by the Italian Vezza family, Astor Place is considered the city's barber factory. Having evolved through the years, Astor Place is a microcosm of New York City. Its hair artists immigrated from many countries to chase their American Dream. Ultimately, they have formed a family, now totaling 40 barbers, who await a miracle to occur before their dream fades and take a piece of New York City with it.

Alice Avallone lives in New York City. A native from Italy, she runs the very successful blog NUOK. Is it just another blog a New Yorker tries to communicate through? Is it the salvation in a city that offers you all and runs away from you at the same time? Maybe more. According to the incredible response of the followers she gathered all over the web, NUOK is more of a Renaissance eye on the city that never sleeps. Yes, Alice made it. She found her wonderland.

Francesco, a Sicilian artisan drum maker, is following his dreams by making goatskin tambourines. The goat feeds on the earth, Francesco says, and returns to the earth in a new form; the drum. When Francesco creates an instrument, a true ritual is taking place, because he is giving back a voice to something that lived, died and then returns to life. He looks at the drums as children, all with different personalities. They must scatter. They need to go far away because they must learn to be on their own. Our lives vibrate to a primordial rhythm even before we have ears in the mother's womb, that's how we all are connected with the drum. Peppe, a percussionist and traditional music researcher, was first introduced to drums at age 10. His grandmother had drums hanging on the walls in her house. She would regularly take them down and start banging them with a technique all her own. Today, he teaches the Sicilian tambourine because he believes it to truly be an identity factor of Sicily, particularly Southern Italy . According to methods of the Sicilian Greek philosopher Empedocles, Peppe continues that method playing onomatopoeic sounds taking his cues from the ancient Sicilian dialect. His mission is to keep alive the link between these almost lost worlds.