Gunshot at the Mountain Pass

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.

Portrait of Saiakbai Karalaev, one of the last bards of the "manas," a Kyrgyz national epic.

Tien-Shan, 1966. For the first time in 13 years, winter duration is six months. Sheep in the mountains are hungry for grass on the sunny slopes. The state is taking urgent measures to save hundreds of thousands of wintering animals. But still...

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.

Directed by Bolotbek Shamshiyev, the movie shows Kyrgyzstan under early Soviet rule; and tells us about opium contrabanda across the border.

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.

Dedicated to memory of the Soviet war hero Aliya Maldagulova who died fighting during the Siege of Leningrad.