 Famous TV news anchorman Pierre Nivel left Algiers for France in 1962. That s been a secret; his Paris co-workers have never known that he was formerly an Algerian pied noir. An Algerian delivers an urgent message to Pierre from a Leïla Jalal... Algiers, 1962. The Nivels live in the same apartment building as the Moslem Jalal family. Lycée student Pierre is in love with their daughter, Leïla. The civil unrest in Algeria is heating up and violence is spreading in Algiers. At school, Pierre is friends with a Moslem student, Issam, but he is made fun of for that... Pierre s jet arrives in Algiers. As a celebrity, Pierre is met on arrival by a government official, Nader Mansour. Because of the civil war raging between the government and Islamic terrorists, they drive into the city in a heavily armed convoy. Pierre does not tell Mansour his real reason for returning: Leïla has asked him to help her daughter Amina escape to safety in France. Leïla has been unwillingly married to a terrorist chieftain, now dead, and Amina has been pledged to marry guerrilla leader Samir... Mansour escorts Pierre on a visit to see his former apartment. Pierre slips away and goes to find Leïla... Amina proves to be the very image of her mother 30 years before; Leïla refuses to accompany the two back to the hotel s relative safety. Getting exit documents for Amina is going to be a problem, and Mansour has relocated Pierre. Samir kidnaps Leïla to force the return of her daughter...