Set in a small French seaside village that's seen better days, Abdel Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain (La Graine et le mulet) tells the story of Slimane Beiji (Habib Boufares), a 61-year-old Arab immigrant who gets downsized after 35 year of working on the dock. With little hope of getting another job, Slimane decides to invest his severance pay and convert a derelict trawler into a restaurant where he can serve his ex-wife's secret couscous recipe to fellow immigrants, offering them a taste of home.
While many may dream of leaving a job they do just to get by to strike out on their own in a profession they love, the realities Slimane faces in making his dream come true are harsh. Not only does he have to cut through miles of red tape from bank loan officers to the local permitting process, he also must battle the local racism from the French residents who just don't want to see a foreigner succeed, no matter how long he's been living beside them in their country.
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