Highlighting issues from generation gaps and love to the growing conflict of civil war , Viva L ald jérie follows the lives of three women, living in the middle of a terrorist infested city, who struggle to survive despite the limitations on their lives. The film deals with conflict between mother and daughter as well as the tensions between traditional and modern society.
Beautiful Goucem works at the counter of a local Algiers photo shop. Goucem and her extravagantly bold widowed mother, Mrs. Sandjak, a former exotic dancer, have been living together in a low-rent residential hotel, hiding out from terrorists who are set on killing Sandjak ( known at “Papicha” to her many adoring fans). Fifi, the women’s neighbour at the hotel, is an energetic prostitute who keeps herself busy with men twenty-four hours a day.
Encouraged to re-enter the realm of performance, despite the threats to her life, Papicha decides to go back out into the community to perform. Her actions are inspired by the young daughter of the concierge, Tiziri, who looks up to Papicha. When the two discover that a coveted cabaret is being closed to make room for a new mosque, Papicha decides she can no longer sit idly by.
Goucem has been leading a double life between traditional and modern society, in constant conflict with her mother’s worries of her finding a husband. Goucem becomes interested in a local married doctor, Annis, expecting him to leave his wife for her. But when Annis announces he is going to be out of town, tending to the victims of terrorism, Goucem lets loose in the city—partying all night and taking home many different men.