Boromo, Burkina Faso. When Rasmané finds out that his friend Pierre has died, he sets off for his home town to help his family to transport the body home for his funeral. However, Rasmané hasn't reckoned with the traditional village elders who are strictly against them paying their last respects to a non-believer in the village. For Rasmané it is the beginning of an odyssey through Burkina Faso, as it turns out it’s not so straightforward to get the body of a man buried who was not baptised, does not have a Muslim first name and was not a member of any of the country's religious communities.

Twelve-year-old Simon has lost everything to the civil war that has devastated his country. "Black Lion," the ruthless rebel leader of the People's Revolutionary Army, has killed Simon's family and burned down his house. As an expert in weapons and battle strategies, he has formed a rebel group that wants to take power by force with the help of child soldiers. Simon is kidnapped and turned into a child soldier. Traumatized and plagued by nightmares, Simon plans to escape with his comrades while special forces of the African Union prepare an attack on Black Lion.