Sira, a young Fulani nomad, can hardly wait. She and her family are travelling to meet her groom. Sira is a strong and self-confident woman, her Muslim father trusts his daughter and has therefore agreed to a marriage between her and her childhood sweetheart Jean Sidi, a Christian. But on the way the family is attacked by Islamist terrorists, and the men are shot in cold blood. Cursing the attackers for their deed, Sira is kidnapped and raped – and left alone in the middle of the desert to face what would appear to be certain death. But Sira is a fighter and full of the will to live. She manages to make her way to where the terrorist camp is located and hides in a nearby cave where she holds out, undiscovered for months, planning her next steps.
Apolline Traoré’s film is set in the Sahel, a lawless war zone ruled by the men who have the most weapons, pick-up trucks and mobile phones. It tells the gripping story of a struggle for survival in which the female veil becomes an instrument of resistance, in a film that represents a feminist counterpoint to current reporting from the region.