The Silver Fez is the much-revered prize for the Cape Malay choirs of Cape Town, South Africa. Each year, hundreds of choirs compete to be crowned the undisputed champions of Cape Malay music - a form of music that first arrived in the Cape on slave ships. In the film we see the wealthy, ultra-competitive Hadji Bucks face off against Kaatji Davids, a struggling house painter. The two choirmasters assemble their troops and prepare for a musical war in which treachery and pain are endured in the hope of glory.