Tourists know it as the City of Joy. For Ouled Nail dancers, Bousaada is a city of horrors.

It is 1931 when two sisters arrive in Bousaada bursting with dreams of becoming successful dancers. But the city, occupied by the ruthless French colonial army, changes their lives forever.

When they kill a soldier in self-defence, Fahima and Salima must outsmart the French Colonel who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. The sisters are driven further into a cycle of violence with every attempt to hide their crime. Risking their lives and the lives of their loved ones, the dancers must navigate a dangerous world where almost everyone has a scheme.

Set in the scorching world of 1930s colonial Algeria, where the desert wind whispers secrets of rebellion, Sand Roses is a tale of sisterhood, sacrifice, and the fight for liberation.

Author: Hamza Koudri