A dramatised documentary that Bertuccelli based on an anthropological study by Jean Duvignaud. Duvignaud described life in Chebika, a small clay-built village in the south of Tunisia. Bertuccelli was not given permission to film in Tunisia, but found a similar village just over the border in Algeria, Tehouda. He only worked with one actress, who played an orphan girl, and with the local people playing themselves. The film was praised for its authentic mood, meticulous construction and beautiful photography. The story is set soon after independence. The children of the village are given education for the first time, but the men, who work in a stone quarry, are confronted with a wage cut. They go on strike and occupy the quarry before being arrested by the army. The orphan girl is a silent witness of events.
