Giuseppe Grassonelli was a ruthless hit man, a key figure in a bloody vendetta that was only one episode in the history of mafia violence that exploded in and around Agrigento in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Handed a life sentence, he found redemption in writing. Carmelo Sardo is an accomplished journalist who reported on those mafia wars for a local TV station while they were unfolding. This documentary is the story of these two parallel lives and the meeting of the two that led to a profoundly human exchange twenty-five years later, as well as a book which lends its name to the film, Malerba, which became a publishing sensation. It's the story of a descent to hill and rehabilitation, rediscovering what is good about life, in spite of it all.

Toni Trupia grew up in Favara and moved to Rome after high school and started getting some experience in film, directing several short films. In 2001 he decided to enroll in the directing course at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. Two years later he was first assistant director on the short film L'appello di un amico by Mario Monicelli, and then to Michele Placido on his Romanzo Criminale. In 2007 Trupia made his directorial debut with the feature film L’uomo giusto. He went on to co-write Placido's film Vallanzasca - Gli angeli del male. He teaches directing at the NUCT in Rome. He directed his second film, Itaker - Vietato agli italiani, in 2012.