After the death of her uncle, a dignitary Mandingo Imam, the director films her family courtyard. A dispute over the estate has burst out between advocates of traditional law and proponents of official law, inherited from European colonisation.

The courtyard becomes the theater where the future of an emblematic family is played out.

-- Dir. Chloé Aïcha Boro - 83min - 2023 - Burkina Faso, France --

"When Western modernism transforms our social and religious ties, and in reaction, jihadism gains ground, how do we go from being guardians of our ancestral lands to being owners of real estate?" - Chloé Aïcha Boro, Director's Statement: https://buff.ly/K7Rqzh6

"contemplative, searching....Returning to her Burkina Faso village after decades of living in France, Boro experiences an emotional paradox intimately known by all immigrants. Once-familiar places turn foreign, since the migrator has undergone huge internal changes of their own" - Guardian

"in Boro’s distinctively observant eye, a story about the role culture, heritage, and religious beliefs play in the daily life of a community" - DOC NYC

"Boro has been deprived of precious traditions. The family courtyard contains the buried umbilical cords of all babies born in the family, except those of her own children. This is one reason why the courtyard is more than just a piece of land." - IDFA

"The courtyard is her point of anchorage, where her culture is rooted, where her umbilical cord is buried. The director constructs her film around this space, whose equilibrium is now shattered." - Visions du Reel

"The humanity of its character, the tenderness of the shots and these universal themes – altogether, the film appears to the emotional self of its viewers, making it deeply relatable: we sacrifice belonging for freedom and freedom for belonging." - Modern Times Review

"a complex, multi-layered film that clearly depicts the clash between traditions and modernisation." - Cineuropa

"This personal exploration of identity touches on the deep-rooted value of inheritance....a sincere journey about the value of recognising a family as your own." - Eye for Film