A young teacher arrives to take over a village school isolated in the shimmering desert. Legendary figures materialize out of wells and the desert itself, groups of children hurry through a labyrinth of underground corridors, and the teacher is whisked away to a mysterious rendezvous and never returns.
Around 1980, in Tunisia, Si Béchir, an old craftsman, sold his house and left the medina of Tunis with his family to settle in a new city on the outskirts of the capital. With his son Ali and his niece Aziza, the old man discovers a new way of life in a Tunisia in full change. Aziza becomes friends with Aïcha, a young actress, while Ali continues to fail in his little businesses. The arrival of a sheikh from the Persian Gulf will fuel all the desires in the city, including those of Ali. But the dream is short-lived.
