Lola Pater

In Algiers in 1993, while the civil war is starting, Mrs Osmane's tenants have to endure her bad temper. Her husband left her and the fear to lose her respectability haunt her. The former member of the Resistance during the Independence War persists in controlling the slightest moves of the households rather than struggle against her own frustrations. Learning her daughter is in love, the possibility of finding herself alone will push her to the limit: The symbolical Mrs Osmane "harem" is about to collapse.

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...

Rennes, nowadays. Saïd still lives with his parents. He is having a secret affair with Vincent. Unable to face his family, he agrees to an arranged marriage with Hadjira. After an unhappy love affair and a few run-ins with the law, she too has resigned herself to obeying her mother. Trapped by their families, Saïd and Hadjira join forces in spite of themselves, to find their own freedom.

Tangier. Dounia decides to sell on the black market the antiques uncovered on the building site she manages. She hopes to raise enough money to be able to leave Morocco with her son, who she hardly ever sees since her divorce. The death of a worker disrupts her plan...