At the beginning of the 1930s, Babi Maklouf Benhamou, out of passion for France, left his native Algeria to settle in Paris. After a thousand small jobs, he became a night watchman at the Louvre Museum, which delighted him! Everything could therefore have gone well "in the most beautiful city in the world" if the Second World War had not brought the German army to the gates of Paris. At the request of Jacques Jaujard, the museum curator, Babi must then flee the capital with his wife and children, aboard a truck filled with masterpieces from the Louvre... His mission? Save them from the Nazis who want to take them. But at the end of a perilous journey south, Babi and his family will be overtaken by the horror of war... In the streets of Pau, anti-Semitism is gaining ground and the new laws of the Vichy regime will soon forcing the whole family to survive in hiding. How much longer will Babi manage to deceive the enemy's vigilance? What if someone reported them? During this time, the paintings that he took care to protect at the risk of his life attract covetousness...
"Imagine the perfect grandfather and you will see him appear before your eyes, Babi" it is with these words begins the incredible true story of Babi Maklouf through which director Élie Chouraqui pays a vibrant tribute to his grandfather. In this last volume where an intimate drama is played out, Elie Chouraqui powerfully depicts the darkest hours of the occupation but also the courage of a man and his love for France.
