Love & Gelato

At her mother's deathbed, awkward teen Lina (Susanna Skaggs) promises to go alone on the high school graduation trip to Italy that the two had planned together in LOVE & GELATO. That's where 18 years before, her mom had learned about life and love, got pregnant, and left behind her first love. Mom's best friend Francesca (Valentina Lodovini), an extroverted fashion consultant, hosts the over-cautious Lina and embarks on a program to loosen the girl up and set her fears aside. Howard (Owen McDonnell), another of Mom's close friends, pitches in as well. Eventually, as Lina reads the diary of her mother's youth, she finds the courage to confront her absentee father and feels comfortable enough in her own skin to enjoy kissing two boys. Her transformation into something resembling an adult continues as she stops running from life and starts to enjoy friends, scenery, and fantastico gelato.