In the arid Tunisian village of Bizerte, Khorma -- with his blonde-red hair and quirky habits -- is the town's kindly joke. His guardian is Bou Khaleb, the official announcer of births, deaths, and marriages. When the Bou mistakenly announces the death of a woman rather than her daughter's marriage, the film immerses us in the often-hilarious power struggles amongst the clerics of the "religion business".

Aïcha is a rebellious village girl in her twenties who works in a clothing factory and dreams of a better life. Her lover, Mourad, had left her and emigrated to Europe, which led her to retreat into isolation. Adam is a young and disillusioned doctor who cannot bear his dull and lifeless daily routine, caught between the suffering of his patients and his own loneliness. On a whim, he decides to leave everything behind and accept a job in a remote, barren village, in search of tranquility and an escape from haunting memories. There, he encounters Aïcha, who brings movement and vitality into his otherwise quiet new life.

In 1954, two young intellectuals, the ethnologist François and Ibrahim the lawyer, return to Tunisia after their studies in Paris. Brahim is engaged in the national independence movement. He is charged by the party to find his brother Beda, the resistants' leader, and to convince him to lay down his arms, a prerequisite for peaceful negotiations.

A newspaper article published by mistake sparks multiple conflicts between a history professor, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, a businessman, and a student.