Marat Sarulu

The Move

In the village, in a small house by the river, an old man lives with his granddaughter. They live a simple life in harmony with the extensive nature. One day, the man’s daughter, living in the city and doing everything in order to survive in an hostile social environment, comes home and asks him to sell a house and move to live with her in the city.

My Brother Silk Road

The Great Silk Road is the name for a mountain trade route now identifiable only by train tracks; it is on these tracks that our film finds four children at play, not far from their Kirghizstan village. A train meanders down the mountain and, following an argument, an artist is unceremoniously thrown-off a carriage and (so) eventually encounters the children.

Snowstormy Station

During the second world war two friends work at a remote railway station in the steppes. When one dies the other's request to bury him according to Islamic rituals in a sacred place is denied by the Soviet authorities, who use that place for rocket testing.

Kelin

A woman is led by her family to her new husband's home, to live with, presumably, his elderly mother and younger brother. Despite being forced into the marriage, she discovers that he is not such a bad catch after all but domestic bliss does not last long.

How a Boy Saved His City

As his city faces the threat of being conquered by an evil lord, a brave boy decides to take matters in his own hands.

The Adopted Son

In a remote Kyrgyz village, Beshkempir, an infant foundling, is taken in by five older women and later adopted by a couple unable to bear children of their own. Fast forward to his early teenage years, a pubescent Beshkempir is faced with all the problems of crushing on girls and courtship, reconciling with friends and dealing with death in the family. Above all he questions his place in the world as an adoptee.

In Hope

An urban drama. The story takes place in Kyrgyzstan during the first years of independence. Three brothers, Kubat, Sato and Kanat, inherit a greenhouse from their father. The oldest brother, Kubat, takes care of it. The youngest brother, Kanat, destroys it. The middle brother, Sato, is indifferent to the situation.

The Cry of a Migratory Bird

To avoid severe punishment for desertion, a man hides in the mountains near his native village.