Mustapha Kazdarli

Selim Mechoubine, a young man of 28, is the eldest of a large family. In the cramped accommodation he shares with his parents, brothers and sisters... he occupies the kitchen, the refuge of his dreams and his many fantasies. Selim, the court clerk where divorcing couples parade..., wants to get married. His mother finds him “the rare pearl”. But now, the bride's family demands that the couple have their own home... Selim's misadventure begins; he finds himself confronted with the problems of the housing crisis which forces him to begin a long quest, procedures, requests to find the sine qua non condition for his marriage.

Moussa, a young Franco-Algerian, returns to Algeria, but adapting to life in his country of origin proves difficult. Just as he is about to leave for France, he is called up for military service, which suits him fine because he is secretly in love with the beautiful Nacira.

In Algeria, in 1991, amid the rise of fundamentalism, Ali, a family man, allows himself to be influenced by three extremists and drags his wife into a nightmare. For fundamentalists, "demons" can nestle within women, so they must be exorcised of this "diabolical" presence.

An arranged marriage as seen through the eyes of an unhappy young Algerian woman.