Jérôme Bleitrach

Pierre Blum, 40, is a writer who had his time of glory in the early 2000s. One evening, on a casino terrace, he meets Joseph Paskin. This mysterious man, charismatic and manipulative, is influential in the world of politics and persuades Pierre to take on a strange mission that takes him back to a past he’d prefer to forget, and puts his life in danger. In the middle of all this, Pierre falls in love with Laura, a young extreme-left activist. But in this world of subterfuge, who can really be trusted?

The year is 2004. France has passed a law banning religious symbols in public schools. Mariam, born in France to Arab parents, recently began to wear the hijab after performing the hajj with her grandmother. At the start of the academic year, she pretends the new law does not exist, as she does not want to acknowledge it and so be forced to make a decision. To complicate matters, Karim, a popular young Arab boy in school, starts paying attention to her and she develops a powerful crush on him. While her fellow veiled classmates argue with teachers about their desire to keep wearing the hijab, and her parents argue about her wearing hers, Mariam dreams of Karim, despite her best friend Sophia’s warning that he is not serious. Things come to a head when the deadline for removing the hijab or facing expulsion falls the same week Mariam sees Karim with another girl.

Rita Cerveau ("Brain"), the most intelligent woman in the world, is depressive.

Burkina Faso in 1987 is a country in the throes of revolution. Manu, an eight-year-old who loves comics, tags along with Albert, his big brother. When Albert decides to undergo a magic ritual to become invincible, Manu realises there are real powers to rival those of his comic-book superheroes.

For Walid, a taxi driver in Damascus, the only place he can steal a private kiss with his love, Suhair, is in his car. When Suhair is invited by her friend to visit Tehran, she and Walid together board a train from the Syrian capital to Tehran. As they follow the stunning scenery captured beautifully on film, Walid and Suhair finally have an opportunity to get to know each other outside of his taxi…

Rules must be followed. For the "supervisors" of the Bat Yam neighbourhood in Israel, this means ensuring that women are dressed appropriately, that people respect Shabbat, or that Arabs from Jaffa don't enter the neighbourhood with music blaring from their cars. Avi, Kobi and Yaniv are young and know how to fight. They want to force their neighbours to become religious, without hesitating to be violent in the name of God. The inhabitants admire the gang and are afraid of them at the same time. One day a new girl, Miri, arrives. She is not familiar with the strict rules of modesty. The gang's leader Avi is going to be torn between his feelings for Miri and his dedication to the gang.

Abou Milad, an old itinerant barber, lost his barbershop during the Lebanese civil war. Today, he hardly earns a living by offering his services in the popular cafés of Beirut. One day, he is summoned by a recluse resident of a large old mansion.

Or shoulders a lot: she's 17 or 18, a student, works evenings at a restaurant, recycles cans and bottles for cash, and tries to keep her mother Ruthie from returning to streetwalking in Tel Aviv. Ruthie calls Or "my treasure," but Ruthie is a burden. She's just out of hospital, weak, and Or has found her a job as a house cleaner. The call of the quick money on the street is tough for Ruthie to ignore. Or's emotions roil further when the mother of the youth she's in love with comes to the flat to warn her off. With love fading and Ruthie perhaps beyond help, Or's choices narrow.

Summertime at the beach. Swimming, yelling, playing, tanning. 25-year-old Marie who came alone to lie in the sun and swim in the sea, loses the bottom half of her bathing suit.