Adam Ousmane is a pool attendant at a local resort. When the new managers decide to downsize, Adam loses his job to his own son, Abdel. Shattered by the turn of events, Adam is pressured into contributing to the Chadian war effort. With no money to speak of, the only asset he can donate is his son.

This Chadian film was an underdog in the 2010 Cannes competition, but its transposition of a near fable-like story (reminiscent of F.W. Murnau’s silent masterpiece The Last Laugh) to an unexpected setting netted wide acclaim—and director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun went home with the Jury Prize.