La cité

Somewhere near the vast tracts of the Sahara there is an almost forgotten colony. A seemingly endless war has just ended and Doctor Max Vincent (German actor, Jean-Marc Barr) returns from the front. Broken by eight years of brutal conflict he now waits for a caravan that will take him to Port Hebill and the boat that will eventually take him home. But the caravan doesn’t come. He becomes caught up in events when the British military who inhabit the city claim it has become infected by plague. A decision is made to isolate the local Herenite people from the rest of the desert society by forcing them into quarantine in their ancient mountain village. But Doctor Vincent isn’t convinced and his diligent snooping proves the plague is nothing more than a hoax and the Herenites are completely disease free. Isolated and at the mercy of their so-called protectors, Doctor Vincent rallies the Herenite people to alert the outside world. They write their story on hundreds of dry leaves from a sacred tree, then send them into the wind from the high tops of their ancient mountain city. In an epic scene, the wind carries their words and spreads the truth to the unknowing city below.

La cité (The City of Shadows) is a Canada-Switzerland co-production.