On a hot July day, a police chief and his inspector arrive in a small village in the Atlas Mountains. They are on a secret mission. The villagers, who to the chief's despair do not even have a name, are the Ait Yafelman, a Berber tribe that has been pushed higher into the mountains from the fertile plains and has become poorer year by year - not least due to the tax collector. Their only possessions are a donkey, two sheep, and a mule. The two government officials behave towards the villagers like the conquerors of all races and religions who have invaded the country throughout history: arrogant and disrespectful. The Ait Yafelman resist in their own way and hinder the ridiculous investigations, the secret of which the police chief only reveals when he - also due to the heat - finally...