Plot

A young girl living in a Palestinian refugee camp learns about her family's history through stories told by three previous generations of refugees.

Sidi, an old man, decides to sacrifice his own life to ensure his beloved great granddaughter Wardi gets a chance for a future. He tells his doctor he no longer needs medicine. Instead the money will go to paying for Wardi's school. Pigeons race in the open sky, called upon by the whistling of young men, standing on rooftops of tall, homemade Towers, that look as if they could fall anytime. It's a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, Al Bourj.

Wardi, an eleven year old girl, anxiously stands beside the motorway outside camp. She is smiling, in her hand a report card. She is on her way home to show her grades, but anxious to cross the road like her friends do with ease. When Sidi gives Wardi his old, large key, she doesn't understand why. She overhears an older woman saying Sidi has lost hope, and that he now will die within a week. Wardi runs to her grandmother Rozette for help. Rozette tells Wardi that if Sidi has lost his hope, Wardi must search the Tower to find it, and bring It back to him. Wardi worries what will happen if she doesn't find any.

Wardi knows that Sidi's hope was to return to his village in Palestine. She searches the different floors of the Tower, eager to find hope, questioning her family: handsome grandfather Lutfi with his false teeth; one legged Yehia from Syria; and her veiled, chain smoking aunt Hanan. We hear the stories of yesterday, and get a glimpse into the realities of life today. Wardi finally reaches the top of the Tower, where Sidi is waiting for her. She still has not found what she needs and the only remaining chance is Pigeon boy, In solitude he stands even higher up, in his pigeon keep, almost touching the sky. Wardi makes the perilous climb to reach him. Finally she hopes to get what she needs.

But Pigeon boy turns out darker than anyone else. He reveals why he tries to erase any memory of the past, and the reason why he thinks future is not worth thinking of. A storm comes upon them and the plastic tarp protecting Sidi is about to be blown away. Sidi's arm hanging stiff from his bed. Wardi is desperate. She runs to Sidi's rescue. Luckily, he is not dead. Although being weak, Wardi discovers that her grandfather's is happy to see see her, and that his hope never seized to die. He still wishes to return to his homeland, but he finds peace knowing that Wardi is ready and able to face anything that lies ahead in her own future.

The storm has grown stronger, night is upon them and the wind carries the blue UN plastic tarp from Sidi's shed away. From above pigeons land on Sidi's body. Wardi feeds them with seeds. Then the pigeons carry the old man away into the moon and the night sky. Later, we see Wardi out in the street on her way to school. She is strong and ready to meet life!