Bakyt Karagulov

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.

The boy Nurdin spent his summer holidays in the mountains with his grandfather, a herdsman. He learned to ride a horse, took part in horse races, showed courage by going with local children to a cave to get mumiyo to cure a sick comrade.

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

A village boy awaits his father's return from the front. Though he doesn't yet know the alphabet, he begins composing letters and enrolls in school early to learn to write. He believes the Moon Witch — a figure from a fairytale — is behind all the misfortunes of war. In his dreams, he battles her on the moon as she casts black letters — death notices — down to Earth...