Mali, 1960. The youth of Bamako dance the twist to rock and roll music newly imported from the West and dream of political renewal. Samba, a young socialist, falls for spirited Lara during one of his missions to the bush. To escape her forced marriage, she secretly flees with him to the city. But Lara’s husband won’t let them be and the Revolution soon brings painful disillusions as they dream of a future together.

In this tale, halfway between reality and fantasy, a mysterious narrator tells us the story of Amani, a young boy passionate about dance. But as the night begins to rumble, Amani’s joie de vivre disappears to give way to his pain.

Adam Ousmane is a pool attendant at a local resort. When the new managers decide to downsize, Adam loses his job to his own son, Abdel. Shattered by the turn of events, Adam is pressured into contributing to the Chadian war effort. With no money to speak of, the only asset he can donate is his son.

Suicide bombers are chosen by chance and their funeral rites accomplish the work of God. On this particular day the envoy of God is twelve -year-old Fatima. She is left in a village market, wearing an explosive belt with ten minutes until she kills the enemies of God. But this is the market where Fatima’s mother works and where she rediscovers life. For ten minutes we accompany her on the nail-biting journey of a martyr from the present to the past. With one minute left on the clock, she faces her mother. Confronted by her own helplessness, will time stop?

Souleymane, 25, dreams of being a dancer in spite of having a paralyzed leg. At nightclubs, he transforms into the beloved dancer Grigris, impressing people with his moves. However, when his stepfather falls seriously ill, Souleymane desperately needs money and decides to work for petrol smugglers.

Ariane is having her birthday party but no one comes. She decides to leave at the seaside and take part with her life that disappointed her.

Moussa attempts to cross the desert to escape his debts, only to return to his village defeated and dejected.

Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals. Outraged by the news, Gumar Abatcha orders his grandson Atim, a sixteen-year-old youth, to trace the man who killed his father and to execute him. Atim obeys him and, armed with his father's own gun, he goes in search of Nassara, the man who made him an orphan. It does not take long before he finds him. Nassara, who now goes straight, is married, goes to the mosque and owns a small bakery. After some hesitation Atim offers him his services as an apprentice. He is hired then it will be easy for him to gun down the murderer of his father. At least, that is what he thinks...

In a small Central African village, boyhood friends Djimi and Koni have come of age under a post-colonial government that levies crippling taxes and legally robs local farmers of their meager crops. When impulsive Koni savagely attacks a visiting government official, the resulting massacre forces the two friends on a journey that will transform them from boys into men, from farmers into soldiers and from villagers into revolutionaries. "We fight in one world so we can live in another," declares Koni as the two battle shoulder to shoulder against government troops. But while Koni embraces the politics and carnage of their dangerous new guerilla existence, Djimi longs for the simplicity and grace of the village life they've left behind. As the rebels move closer to victory, the two friends move closer to a clash of their own.

In an unnamed African country, a journalist is jailed after attempting to report on a sadistic colonel's death squad.