Algeria, the 1930s. Younes is nine years old when he is put in his uncle's care in Oran. Rebaptized Jonas, he grows up among the Rio Salado youths, with whom he becomes friends. Emilie is one of the gang; everyone is in love with her. A great love story develops between Jonas and Emilie, which is soon unsettled by the conflicts troubling the country.

The story of "No Man's Love" lures us into the interior world of protagonist Akim, his suffering and alienation. Akim is a young scuba diver who lives together with his older, more austere, brother Issa in an isolated lighthouse on the Tunisian coastline. Tormented by his sister's recent suicide and frustrated by Issa's strictly regimented lifestyle, Akim leaves to accept an offer by a local Mafia boss to dive into a Roman water tank deep in the Tunisian desert for crates containing gold. Haunting images of his sister plunging into the depths of the Mediterranean Sea trespass throughout Akim's experience of coming to terms with his great loss. In search of freedom and wary of destiny, between the glistening heat of the desert and the enveloping depths of the sea, Akim arrives elsewhere...