We see people living in what appears to be an unassuming apartment building. Gradually we see that one family is Macedonian, another Albanian, another Roma, etc. When a student moves out of the building, she asks some kids: Beni (Albanian), Dime and Mali (Macedonian), Atije (Roma) and Jeylan (Turkish) to help her carry her things to the car. These kids don't know each other, even though most of them live in the same building. The student has no more room in the car, so she leaves her TV set for the kids to share. After some debate, the kids decide that the appropriate place for the TV is a room in the basement. There they continue to argue over the TV, and before they can even plug it into the wall the TV turns on. On the screen is Karmen, who it turns out is the apartment in which the kids live. She introduces the kids to each other, addressing each in his/her own language. All the children are totally amazed, but remain convinced that there's some logical technical explanation. They agree to return later to look for the real meaning of what's happened. Only one of the kids, Atije, returns at the appointed time. Because the kids haven't kept their word, Karmen doesn't appear when they all finally assemble in the basement. Dime blames Beni and makes pejorative remarks about how Beni, as an Albanian, has no place in the building. At home Dime is irritable and pouty. Karmen suddenly "threshes" (to send someone through Karmen's magic tunnel) Dime to Beni's apartment, where Dime invisibly witnesses that Beni is just a regular kid who is now as unhappy as he is. After he's "threshed" back, Dime realizes he needs to apologize to Beni for insulting him earlier. Despite this reconciliation, the kids still have a problem: The adults have decided to make the basement room their common laundry. Dime offers a plan to outsmart the parents. And together the kids succeed in keeping the basement as their shared room where they can visit Karmen. They also realize that they now form a group with a shared secret.
Jeylan's invited to a birthday party. She wants to look good, so she borrows her mother's necklace without permission. That day Atije's and her mother Nerjus are scheduled to clean at Jeylan's. After Jeylan's mother (Leyla), returns and pays Nerjus for her work, she notices the necklace is missing. Leyla rushes after Nerjuz, and in front of all the tenants, angrily accuses her of stealing the necklace. Nerjus, hurt and humiliated, finds herself in a no-win situation. Since no one trusts Roma people she is unable to prove that she is not a thief and, even though she is innocent, Nerjus decides to replace the necklace by selling the family earrings. Meanwhile, Beni calls Jeylan, who leaves the party and goes home to tell her mother what actually happened, but she is dissuaded by her mother's anger. Karmen "threshes" Jeylan to Atije's courtyard where she arrives in time to stop Jeylan from selling her earrings. Jeylan tells Atije and Nerjuz the truth, and accompanies them back to her mother, but Leyla feels humiliated that she was wrong and a Roma cleaning woman was right. Atije and Jeylan reconcile as friends, but the future is unknown for the two mothers.
The Muslim feast of Kurban Bayram and Orthodox Easter are approaching. Beni's and Dime and Mali's families each make their preparations. Beni and his father have brought a lamb to keep, and Mali dyes eggs for Easter. A confrontation between Dime's and Beni's fathers about keeping a lamb in the building quickly escalates. When Beni is not allowed to keep the lamb, he breaks Mali's Easter eggs. Mali tells Dime what happened, and Dime and a friend look for the lamb to steal in revenge. When Karmen sees how delighted Mali is by this, she "threshes" him to a Muslim household where he sees why and how Muslims celebrate Kurban Bayram. Mali realizes that the lamb is as important to Beni, as the eggs are to him, and he informs Beni about Dime's plan. After a comical lamb chase, Mali catches it and Beni trades him the lamb for two Easter eggs.
Beni is a talented basketball player, and is invited to try out for the best basketball team in town, the Mahers. But to do so, he has to choose between basketball practice and keeping his promise to Jeylan - to rehearse for a show she's preparing. Making excuses to Jeylan, he chooses basketball. Beni soon discovers that getting into the Mahers involves additional choices. Succumbing to pressure from the others team members, Beni goes along with them as they bully a younger boy and slash his basketball. Karmen then threshes Beni to a room where the bullied boy is talking with his teacher about what makes a real friend. Beni decides that his friendship with Jeylan is more important than being a Maher, and joins her in preparing and performing in the show.
Jeylan loves kayaking and she wants to become a member of the kayak club Zayak. There's one condition: she has to look after the club's mascot, a rabbit, for a week. When Jeylan shows the rabbit to her friends, Biba, wants one for herself. Biba means a lot to Dime, so when Dime can't find a rabbit to give her, he steals Jeylan's rabbit. But Biba's happiness means Jeylan's sadness. Dime decides to get the rabbit back from Biba, but when Itse teases Dime that he'll lose face, he hesitates. Karmen then threshes Dime into a situation where he experiences the negative consequences of peer pressure. Dime stands up to his friends' teasing and returns the rabbit to Jeylan just before members of the kayak club gang up on him for stealing their mascot.
Dime and Mali have been afraid of Roma ragmen ever since they were kids because people always told them to avoid the Roma. Even Atije, who is herself Roma, is embarrassed by the ragman and insults Rejep as a way of showing that she's better than him. The kids, however, find themselves in a dilemma when Dime and Mali's mother give the ragman the old TV set on which Karmen always appears. Karmen warns that if she's away from the apartment building too long, she will lose her power and disappear forever. As a final attempt to fix things Karmen manages to thresh Atije to Rejep's house. There Atije sees him as an ordinary hardworking person who helps everyone by collecting and recycling used things. When the kids discover that Rejep has sold the TV set to repairman who won't give it back, they enlist Rejep's assistance. Together they collect enough used items to earn the money needed to buy Karmen from the man, and they bring the TV set back to the apartment house just in time.
Dime invites Beni to his party, but Beni's father, Ahmet, won't let him go. Ahmet is convinced that Dime invited Beni only to provide music, and not because they're friends. He is also concerned that Beni will be the only Albanian at a party full of Macedonians. Ahmet tries to convince Beni by discussing his past negative experiences with Macedonians. Beni is conflicted because he knows his father means well, but he also knows that Dime's invitation is sincere. Karmen advises Beni to be true to his emotions and do to what he thinks is right. Beni sneaks out and goes to the party, but when his parents notice his absence they go looking for him and find him at Dime's. Embarrassed, they try to leave, but Dime's parents invite them to stay. The next day, Beni and his parents admit that, although Beni was wrong to have snuck out, parents can also make mistakes.
Dime, Beni, Jeylan and Atije are going to spend the day in the countryside under the watchful eye of Beni's older sister and her boyfriend. Unfortunately, Mali has to stay behind because he's got a cold. At the picnic site, the kids decide to go catch butterflies and soon get lost. Beni accidentally hurts his ankle and needs to be carried, but kids are stuck on the mountain with no food and no way to get back. As they get hungrier they start to blame each other for their predicament. When Mali, back at the apartment, overhears his parent's phone call about his lost friends, he wants to help and Karmen threshes him to the mountainside. Once there he convinces the other kids that they can only solve their problem by working together. They improvise a splint and figure out a way to make their way down the mountain, where they're greeted by very relieved family members.