The Secret of the Grain

French ensemble piece focussing on the lives of an immigrant community in the south of France. Slimane Beiji (Habib Boufares) is a sixty-year-old shipyard worker who dreams of one day giving up his job and opening up his own couscous restaurant. Recently divorced, but obliged to stay close to his family, Slimane's hopes for the restaurant seem to be nothing more than a pipedream after he is suddenly laid-off from the docks. Still dreaming and talking of his plans with his family whenever they meet, the restaurant soon becomes a dream that the whole family can relate to, assuming a symbolic importance in their efforts to make a better life for themselves. (Artificial Eye)