Orozbek Kutmanaliyev

Longing to discover his father, a sad young boy dreams of becoming a fish and swimming to the great white ship he sees traversing Lake Issyk. Lost in his dreams, and buoyed by the pagan tales of his Central Asian grandfather, he feels a close communion with nature: so much so that when a hunter kills a stag, he too takes a final, liberating leap.

Sultanmurat is a 14 year old boy who lives in a small Kyrgyz village. All the men have gone off to war so he is left alone to tend to the horses who are weak with hunger.

Samat is an orphan, and he strikes up a friendship with Musa, who is wheelchair bound due to illness. Little does he know Musa has ties to the criminal world.

A few former pupils of primary school teacher Aishi-Aly meet again for a party on the top of the sacred mountain that dominates their village. But what was supposed to be a joyful party turns into a nightmare...