'The Orphanage' is set in Kabul in the late 1980s. 15-year-old Qodrat lives on the streets and sells cinema tickets to Bollywood movies on the black market. He is a big Bollywood fan and likes to daydream himself into scenes from his favourite movies. One day, the police bring Qodrat to the Soviet orphanage. During summer, USSR invites Qodrat and his fellow orphans to a summer camp in Moscow, where they visit Lenin, the mummy. Back in Kabul, the political situation is changing. The Soviets are leaving, and rebels are dominating the streets of Kabul. When an armed group of rebels reach the orphanage, Qodrat uses his daydreams to imagine how all the children of the orphanage defend their home and defeat them.