Nouadhibou is a small coastal town in Mauritania. Life passes by slowly among the whitewashed houses, during the singing of songs passed from generation to generation as they wait for imaginary happiness…. Seventeen-year-old Abdallah comes to visit his mother before heading for Europe and leaving his country for good. Because he doesn’t speak the local dialect he feels something of an outsider. Moreover, he’s far more interested in the latest European fashions than the colourful hand-woven originals the locals wear. At first he even ridicules their customs and avoids their celebrations, viewing this distant and unknown world with suspicion. But later he begins to yield. He meets young and melancholy Nana, a Chinese immigrant with a taste for karaoke, and the old maintenance man Maat, unhappy that he’s not much of an electrician. But he is most affected by a young boy named Khatra, an orphan who well understands the world around him. Khatra’s take on life is full of hope and tenderness…. FIPRESCI Award at the Cannes IFF 2002.