A young Swiss woman travels to her birthplace - an isolated settlement in the mountainous desert of Algeria - to find her biological mother. The perilous journey immerses her in a world virtually untouched by contemporary society.

After 22 years absence, Aziz decides to return to his hometown to sell the house where he was born. But, to his astonishment, the place is now a small restaurant, run by four women, one of them a girl whom he once dated. Atieh's singular passion is food, and her popular restaurant on the sleepy Caspian coast of Iran is her pride and joy. When Aziz appears, threatening her means of supporting her daughter, Atieh prepares his favorite dishes, one night...

In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and amid the stunning natural beauty of India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, an elderly British teacher struggles to run a small primary school despite the loss of many of the islands' children to the recent tragedy. Ignoring the overwhelming grief that washes over the islands, he continues to teach his few remaining students until a government official delivers a relocation order to all residents,...