After the release of Nostalgia, Andrei Tarkovsky's permission from the Soviet authorities to work abroad expires, he needs to return home. But he understands from messages from friends and colleagues that his life in Russia will be even harder than before. Then he decides to break off relations with the Soviet authorities, and a year before the 1984 Milan conference, during which he will announce his decision, he leaves his friends hosting him in Rome and takes refuge in a secret place.