Filmed in Libercourt in the Pas-de-Calais, "Un figuier au pied du terril" orchestrates various testimonies, in particular those of Nanass and Hélène, two grandmothers of Algerian and Polish origin respectively, highlighting in turn the colonial management of the working-class population, male domination and the residential segregation to which Nanass's descendants are still subjected.
The dialectic of the film does not exclude moments of poetry, in Nanass's garden, where the fig tree, which is the same age as Nanass's stay in France, is still cherished even though the cold prevents it from bearing fruit. The humble tree from the South transplanted to the land of the North is seen as an allegory for the family of this amazing grandmother, forever uprooted but still standing, who continues to hope for the good days when her "family tree" can finally bear full fruit...