Algiers in the nineties. At first, 18-year-old student Nedjma and her friend Wassila laugh at the posters calling on women to veil themselves in public. But they have no idea that this lesser expression of religious conservatism presages far more terrifying events that will eventually lead to civil war. Papicha, as she is known to her friends, refuses to be broken, fighting with an innate stubbornness against the denigration of women in the name of religion. Brimming with girl power, Algerian director Mounia Meddour’s feature debut brought a ray of light into the Un Certain Regard selection at this year’s festival in Cannes.