Seryozha, à 14 ans
June 1946: Stalin invites Russian emigres to return to the motherland. It's a trap: when a ship-load from France arrives in Odessa, only a physician and his family are spared execution or prison. He and his French wife (her passport ripped up) are sent to Kiev. She wants to return to France immediately; he knows that they are captives and must watch every step.
Théo
After the arrest of his mother, who is accused of collaboration, 14-year-old Theo decides to go join his grandfather in Paris. On the road he meets Marie, an 11 year old orphan.
Martin
After the death of his mother, twelve-year-old Martin joins his unknown father in Africa. Newly conceived by this father, who is more worried about the reserve he manages than about his 'new' son, thanks to the friendship between Fofana and Victor, Martin discovers this completely new country and its contradictions. The disappearance of the elephants brings father and son closer together.
