Neapolitan’s superstiticious belief in numbers and their power to influence the future can be seen as an attempt to take destiny in their own hands. Naples has many crowded pour neighbourhoods with small ‘ricevitorie’ (gambling offices). The daily visitors don’t pick their lotto numbers ramdomly; for them there is a direct link between the chosen numbers and their attempt to change destiny. All daily events seem to have meaning for the neapolitans, and are transformed on to the lotto form. In Dreaming by numbers the regular visitors of a small ricevitoria in the Via Tribunale are portrayed and tell their personal stories in which faith is interwoven with their lifes. The intimate images of the small office run by the two sisters Maria and Angela combined with vivid streetscenes balance between realism and magic.
Some play the same numbers during a lifetime, because of the special meaning for them. Some play the numbers corresponding the death dates of family members. And there are those who only choose the happy events in their lifes. They believe happiness will -once- be back.