Cirque Shems'y sits on the edge of one of Morocco's poorest slums, in Sale on the northwest coast, and gives children from the neighborhood a shot at becoming circus performers. Alain, the circus's director, runs auditions that only a handful survive, and this film follows those who make it as they train for the company's first national tour. Fourteen-year-old Hajar works the aerial rig, her co-lead Abd'Ali handles the acrobatics, and coach Imed pushes both through the physical demands of the routines. The show that results retells a Moroccan folk tale built on a Romeo and Juliet plot, and the film travels with the troupe by train and bus to Agadir, where they raise the tent and perform for an audience seeing a circus for the first time. Alain's stated goal is blunt: turn the circus into a commercial success so it can offer these performers an actual livelihood, not just a season's escape from the slum. The camera stays with the performers through rehearsal, travel, and the show itself.