Off the coast of Senegal, the ten islands of Cape Verde each carry their own landscape, from raw volcanic rock to the terraced gardens of Santo Antão and the long beaches of São Vicente. This film follows islanders preparing for the year's biggest event, carnival, through three lives: Claudia, a law student who spends her free hours singing and playing guitar in the hope of a stage career; Nuno, who leads a drum band and spends months organizing its carnival performance; and Catarina, a dentist chosen as carnival queen, having an elaborate costume built for her appearance. Their common thread is morna, the melancholic, blues-like music that Cesária Évora carried to world audiences, and which still scores daily life across the archipelago. The camera moves between rehearsal rooms, home kitchens, and the crowded streets of carnival day, letting residents talk about longing, ambition, and what the festival means to them, while the film asks quietly whether Catarina's costume, and her nerve, will hold up on the big day.