Fadila Ouabdesselam

A legend that begins with the magic words: "Once upon a time." Once upon a time, there was a little girl nicknamed Mimezrane for her beauty and especially for her beautiful braids. She was beautiful but had strangely sad eyes. She was orphaned at a very young age. Her boyfriend and confidant was Hennouche, a mischievous little boy with big black eyes. They lived together a carefree childhood. Time passed. They grew up. Hennouche became a goat herder with a melodious voice; Mimezrane, for her part, became a washerwoman and, on occasion, a water carrier. Both accepted their fate without ever complaining. Yet, even in her poverty, Mimezrane was the most beautiful of all.

Atop 17 flights of stairs, Madame Aldjeria rules over a crew of beautiful young women with the help of faithful son Riyad and clever lawyer Djaffar. Madame Aldjeria can set up a lonely old man with companionship or destroy the reputation of whomever the client wants humiliated. But when Riyad grows attracted to a beautiful new girl, Paloma, and a potentially huge new project runs into trouble, Aldjeria could lose everything she's worked for.

This movie portrays three women living in today's Algeria between modern society and Islamic fundamentalism, self-determination and dependence. Goucem, a young woman who works for a photographer and mistress of a rich doctor, her mother Papicha, a former cabaret star, and her best friend Fifi, a prostitute, all live in a hotel in the city center of Algiers. Their difficult personal situation and the growing influence of Islam lead to dramatic consequences...