Paris, a very busy boulevard: Someone throws a crumpled piece of paper into the outstretched hands of a beggar woman. This is the bond that, for an instant, links the trajectories of several very different characters. Anne, a young actress, is on the threshold of making it in the cinema. Her boyfriend, Georges, is a war photographer who is rarely in France, and his father is a famer. Georges′ younger brother, Jean, has no interest in taking over the farm. Amadou is a music teacher in a school for deaf-mute children, having chosen this profession because of his little sister′s deafness. His father, a taxi driver, was born in Africa. Maria comes from Romania and sends home the money she gets from begging. Having been deported, she goes to spend some time with her family before embarking on another humiliating journey to France. What do they have in common - these characters and those whose paths they cross?