In an unidentified French-speaking West African country, chaos reigns as civil war erupts. For the rebels, it's time to banish the 'white material' -- white folk and the trappings of white life. Among these is the Vial coffee plantation inhabited by Maria, her ex-husband Andre, their son Manuel, and his grandfather Bernard, a white family of French origin. Their terrified workers have fled, leaving the crop un-harvested, the front gate unlocked. Andre plots his escape with his second wife Lucie and their son Jose. Maria has vowed never to leave, and is neurotically fixated on getting the neglected crop harvested. Maria does not seem to realize, or perhaps wish to see, how she is perceived. Her sense of home, of belonging, and her feeling of being rooted to the plantation--to Africa--will have tragic consequences.