In this adaptation of the critically acclaimed debut novel by Iranian American author Dalia Sofer, a secular Jewish family is caught up in the maelstrom of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Raisa asks his best friend, a doctor, to accompany her to the desert to cure his ailing father. But on arrival, the father dies and appoints his successor his son, a man who seduces the doctor.
The main protagonists of the film are members of the gypsy family Mirga. Lutvija Belmondo Mirga narrates a story about four generations. Belmondo is the central character of the film, a gypsy king, who decided to establish his own gypsy village. He names it Shanghai. Belmondo makes a living smuggling and his power and influence grow big. He even gets the local police and politics on his side and that helps him to become untouchable for law. But with the downfall of Yugoslavia, smuggling of goods is replaced by smuggling of the arms. Though lucrative the business starts to threaten Belmondo’s personal life and he finds himself at the crossroads. Will he protect his own family or is he going to sacrifice his personal happiness for business ambitions?
Early evening - a big city. Two teenagers shyly flirt with each other, a housewife sits down to watch her daily soap, nurses in a hospital gossip before the nightshift starts, a trendy couple drives through rush hour, so excited they can hardly wait to get home - a man with a rifle enters a building seeking revenge. In the blink of an eye seemingly unrelated events turn upside down what were once secure, happy, 'normal' lives. Behind fear, beyond the unexpected, there is love and hope.
Sarajevo, after 11th September 2001. Karim works as deminer in the hills around the city while waiting to be sent to Iraq with his group. His main reason - the money. But a love story with unhappy ending will change his life. It's a tale about a love triangle between him, his best friend Juka and Ivana, girl from Belgrade, but at the same time this is a story about the clash between West and Islam and how one young Bosnian copes with this issue.
