Le Message des Iles
(O Recado das Ilhas)

Within the social context of Cape Verde, the female lead is represented as a “fictionnal” character. This “fiction” represents her process of identification with characters from novels. The beautiful Creole woman from Gonçalves’ novel, which is set in the 18th century becomes the Ariel of Aimé Césaire’s of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in which she encounters Caliban and Prospero. Her initiatory quest will lead her to climb to the top of a volcano on Fire Island along with Caliban, an old prisoner from the colonial period who is transformed into an airplane pilot — a figure with whom she will also identify — while searching for her own identity, her faith and her exile.