‘The Pianist’ is a project about a man who lives in a council house in the suburbs of Trieste, Italy. He was a professional musician who played on cruise ships for all its life. Now he is retired, and lives in a small apartment. The social services provide him not only a house, but also human sympathy and health-care. This helps him avoid marginalisation and to carry on a self-sufficient life. The suburbs today are the frontiers of the struggle toward the integration of the poorer people with the rest of the society.