Viva Algeria

In contemporary Algiers, Goucem, a young photographer's assistant and the mistress of a wealthy doctor, lives in a city-center hotel with her mother, Papicha, a former cabaret star, and her best friend Fifi, a prostitute. As they struggle with difficult personal circumstances amid the growing influence of Islamic fundamentalism, their lives are shaped by the tension between modern society and religious conservatism, self-determination and dependence, with dramatic consequences.