Sitikali, a town in the Sahel, suffers under the dictatorial Guimba and his dwarf son Janguiné. Kani has been betrothed to Janguiné ever since she was born. To symbolise their bond, a chord was tied around the wrist of the newborn baby. When Kani turns into a beautiful and desirable young woman, no one dares approach her for fear of Guimba. One day Janguiné visits Kani and falls in love with her mother Meya. When she refuses to get divorced, Guimba banishes her husband Mambi, who goes into hiding in the village of the hunters. Siriman Keita, one of the hunters, besieges the town. He and Guimba have to fight it out. The epic and mythological aspects of the story, the feeling for irony and the clash between sex and politics form the strength and inspiration of the film.
