 Mahfoud is a young professor at a technical school in Algiers. With his technical and computer knowledge, he renovates an old weaving loom which he plans to show at an international inventor s convention in Germany. His travel plans though are frustrated by administrative obstacles. Meanwhile his neighbors have their eye on him - especially old M nouar who has been scarred by terrible memories from the Algerian War. He views everything and everyone with suspicion. As far as he s concerned, Mahfoud is up to no good, maybe he s even involved in subversive activities! Of course it doesn t help that Mahfoud is having a love affair with Samia, a young psychiatrist who has returned to the country after her studies to Belgium. She fights against conforming to the local norms and breaks taboos which don t please the people. Finally Mahfoud succeeds in obtaining his visa to go to the international Fair. His invention wins an award there and when he returns home there is a very different welcome for him!