Lotfi Bouchnak

Two Sudanese young men travel to Egypt in pursuit of proper education. While one of them finds the love of his life and pursues a career in signing, the other is doomed to lead a life of failure as life-pleasures blind his eyes to the essence of existence.

Barely relieved from a serious depression and against the advice of his psychiatrist, Slah, theater director, mentally weakened by his career, announces to his wife Amel, a rich woman who finances his projects, his decision to mount the famous play Essoud (The Dam) of Mahmoud Messadi renowned for its complexity. But the same evening, driving his car, Slah overthrows a young woman named Aisha. At first distraught, he then experiences a strange fascination for this beautiful young girl contrarian who becomes his friend and his muse. Amel, her husband's moral, emotional and financial support, convinced the director of the theater to program Le Barrage. Although suffering in silence of the presence of Aisha, Amel decides for love for her husband to invite the young woman near them, in the field of her parents, in an oasis of the south of Tunisia. A strange three-way household is formed when doubts and suspicions, desires and temptations, love and complexities are revealed.

Over forty and in a bit of a midlife crisis, Tunisian film director Raouf is prone to excessive drinking when not engaged in an argument with his French-born wife Lou (Marianne Basler). One respite to Raouf's dreary life is a recent film assignment -- to shoot an autobiographical film about his childhood. While working on the script, Raouf recalls his childhood home life under the strictures instituted by his devoutly religious father. The polar opposite of Raouf's father was his uncle Mansour, a jolly, life-loving soul who introduced Raouf to cinema through his work as a wandering film projectionist, which angered and shocked his father to no end but proved to be the most pivotal development in the youngster's life. Through cinema, Raouf found his place in this world and came-of-age -- something he may have to revisit in his adult life if he wishes to salvage his marriage.