In Lebanon, a single, middle-aged woman deals with the repercussions religious bans on interfaith marriage have had on her life, and a young couple struggling to accept them. In Algeria, a hair salon becomes a haven for women in conflict with the social traditions they are forced to live by.

Lama and Fouad are very much in love. He is Christian and she is Muslim. Their love is doomed because their society will not allow them to marry across the religious divide.

Marita, a woman in her mid-forties, has never recovered from her first and only true love - a forbidden love that blossomed during the Lebanese civil war.

The three main characters talk frankly as we follow them in their daily lives and on the trail of that doomed love that left Marita spending her evenings in front of the television set alone in a large apartment and without a family of her own.

The Beauty Salon is one of the few social spheres in Algeria where women can discuss their lives freely. Here we meet Lila, who was prevented from marrying the man she loved because his mother did not approve of her having visited Paris, her smoking, and her dressing like a western woman. The story traces the customers whose lives have clashed with tradition and rebellion.

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To purchase Arab Diaries, please visit the First Run/Icarus Films site.