Andre starts as a teacher in a remote mountain village in Albania. His first task is to choose one of two communist slogans. He picks the shorter one, which is appreciated by his class, because they have to build the slogan on the hillside using whitewashed rocks. However, this means that the longer slogan goes to Diana, the French teacher to whom Andre is attracted. Andre gets on the wrong side of the communist party boss of the village, when he stands up for an unjustly accused goat herdsman, whom he had befriended. The boss is determined to take his revenge on Andre.
Margarita Begolli, the portagonist of the film, returns to Albania after 25 years with her memory lost.
Andon, a young violinist, is seriously studying for the admission competition at the Academy of Fine Arts. Cosmai, the father, thinks his son cannot win the competition without a bit of external help. He mobilizes all his friends and relatives so that his son can be sure to win. Muco, the chairman of the commission, is incapable of judging clearly and bored from all the interventions pours the anger on the young talented violinist.