Samir Elhakim

Ahmed, 18, is French of Algerian origin. He grew up in the Parisian suburbs. On the benches of the university, he meets Farah, a young Tunisian full of energy recently arrived from Tunis. While discovering a body of sensual and erotic Arabic literature that he never knew existed, Ahmed falls deeply in love with this girl, and although literally overwhelmed by desire, he will try to resist it.

Nedjma, an 18-year-old student passionate about fashion design refuses to let the tragic events of the Algerian Civil War keep her from experiencing a normal life. As the social climate becomes more conservative, she rejects the new bans set by the radicals and decides to put on a fashion show.

Set in Algeria, a widow whose husband was killed in a terrorist attack and her only son have to move from one village to another to escape false rumors and harassment. When they finally settle in a place and find work, their lives will take another drastic turn. Will it be for the worse or the better?

Algeria today. Past and present collide in the lives of a newly wealthy property developer, a young woman torn between the path of reason and sentiment and an ambitious neurologist impeded by wartime wrongdoings. Three stories that plunge us into the human soul of a contemporary Arab society.

Algeria, 1994. S. and Lotfi, two friends from childhood, travel through the desert looking for Abou Leila, a dangerous terrorist on the run. Their quest seems absurd, given that the Sahara has not been affected by the wave of attacks. Lofti has only one priority : to keep S. as far from the capital as possible, knowing his friend is too fragile to face more bloodshed. But the closest they get into the desert, the more they will be confronted with their own violence.

Twenty-year-old Nora takes her grandmother’s body to Algeria. Once there, her family discourage her from attending the funeral. Trapped between the four walls of the family home where she watches over her grandmother’s body, she is enraged. Silently.

One evening in Algiers, Myassa is raped by a man with a limp dick. Back home, she can't take a shower because the plumbing is broken. She has two priorities: file a complaint and find a plumber. She ends up face to face with her rapist.

Set in the northern Algerian port city of Mostaganem. The title refers to the hordes of refugees, the 'Harragas', who smuggle themselves out of the country via any means possible. Here we meet one such group, Rachid, Nasser and Imene who pay a smuggler, Hassan, to take them to Spain in his rickety boat. Along with a group of African and Arab migrants, they are risking all they have to cross the stormy Straits.