The story of the 1766 mutiny aboard the slave ship Meermin, in which 26-year-old Massavana led his fellow captives to take control of the ship, which was sailing from Madagascar to South Africa. Although ordered to return to Madagascar, the crew took them to Cape Town, where the mutineers were defeated by a local militia. The documentary follows the efforts of an archaeologist, historian and slave descendant to unearth facts about the incident from historical archives and court transcripts.