Set "a long time ago," story starts with the funeral of Selma, mother of 11-year-old Zaina (Aziza Nadir), whom she´d raised on her own after being abandoned by Zaina´s birth-father, Mustapha (Sami Bouajila). Selma had won a horse race disguised as a man, forcing Mustapha to disown her. Passing through town on his way to the latest edition of the horse race, Mustapha is confronted by the daughter he never knew he had and by local overlord Omar el-Mansour (Simon Abkarian), who had an unrequited passion for Selma and now wants custody of Zaina. Mustapha hightails it across the Atlas Mountains toward Marrakesh, slowly bonding with the stubborn Zaina and pursued by Omar. Abkarian has real presence as the baddie, and Nadir, swaddled in male clothing, looks the part of a young horsewoman. But there´s nothing happening dramatically to parallel the majestic locations.