is a love story set in a Brave New World-type near-future where cities are heavily controlled and only accessible through checkpoints. People cannot travel unless they have "papelles," a special travel permit issued by the totalitarianistic government, the "Sphinx". Outside these cities, the desert has taken over and shanty towns are jammed with non-citizens - people without papelles forced to live primitive lives. William is a family man who works as a government investigator. When he is sent to Shanghai to solve a case of fake papelles, he meets a woman named Maria. Although he realizes she is behind the forgeries, he cannot help but fall completely in love with her. He hides her crime and they have a wild, passionate affair that can only last as long as his papelles: 24 hours. Back home, William is obessed with the memory of Maria. When the original investigation is inevitably re-opened a week later and William is sent back to finish the work he started, he tracks her down, only to discover she has been accused of a violation and any further relationship is impossible.
Archie Panjabi, Benedict Wong, Bernadette Jane Vanderkar, Bruno Lastra, Christopher Simpson, David Fahm, Emil Marwa, Essie Davis, Jeanne Balibar, Kerry Shale, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mick Jones, Nabil Elouahabi, Nabil Massad, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, Nina Sosanya, Nina Wadia, Om Puri, Samantha Morton, Tim Robbins, Togo Igawa
Drama, Thriller, Romance, Sci-Fi