The End of the Sahara

On an early autumn morning in 1988, on the outskirts of an unnamed Algerian city, a shepherd stumbles upon the lifeless body of Zaza Zaghouani, a stunning nightclub singer who left her hometown seeking a brighter future. The investigation falls to Inspector Hamid, an incompetent and corrupt figure, unlikely to solve the crime. Instead, the narrative unfolds through a mosaic of voices. Among them: Noura, a lawyer representing Zaza's fiancé. Ibrahim, a VHS rental shop owner whose mother works as a cleaning lady at the Sahara Hotel. Kamal, the hotel's front-desk clerk. Maimoun, the hotel owner. The Golden Sheikha, a rival singer. Bashir, Zaza's fiancé. Together, they navigate the shadows of their city--not just in search of Zaza's killer but confronting the "ghosts" of their shared pasts: women silenced by abuse and violence, fathers lost in Algeria's war for independence, and the long echoes of the country's colonial history.