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A woman struggles to find personal and emotional independence in a culture defined by gender inequality in this drama. Fatma (Awatef Jendoubi) is a young woman who grew up in a rural community in Tunisia, and is trying to find a way to struggle out of the constraints of her domineering father. At 17, Fatma is raped by one of her cousins, and the incident leaves her emotionally shattered; she begins binding her breasts and repressing the feminine and sexual components of her nature to put the trauma behind her. Eventually, Fatma goes away to college and becomes acquainted with a young man in one of her classes. In time, Fatma grows to trust the young man, and is able to enjoy a loving physical relationship with him. But Fatma impulsively decides to leave her studies and her relationship behind and takes a job as a schoolteacher in a small rural community, where she becomes infatuated with Aziz (Bagdadi Aoum), a doctor working in the village. As a romance grows between them, Aziz asks Fatma to marry him and she accepts, but Fatma finds herself in a dilemma -- while she lost her virginity through no fault of her own, her society looks down upon women who have had sexual contact before marriage, and she ponders hiring a gynecologist to sew up her hymen so that Aziz will believe it intact on their wedding night. Fatma was screened at part of the Directors Fortnight series at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.