This coming-of-age parable from Emir Baigazin (director of MSPIFF 2014 award winning Harmony Lessons) is set in a remote Kazakh village and centers on a father who has done everything in his power to control and isolate his five sons from the outside world. Although the father rules with a iron fist, Aslan, the eldest often left in control, offers his younger brothers a more compassionate window to the world, allowing them the chance to experience diversion and free will in their otherwise rigorous world. As a crack in the family authority starts to emerge, their urban dwelling cousin, Kanat, arrives for a visit with his television and video games, throwing the family's controlled environment into chaos. An interpersonal storm introduces the brothers to the powerful emotions of possession, jealousy and vengeance, leaving us to judge whether it's innocence lost or self-determination gained.
Director Biography
Kazakh actor and filmmaker Emir Baigazin was born on July 19th, 1984. He studied acting cinema at Kazakh National Academy of Arts. At the 58th International Berlin Film Festival, Baigazin was featured on the Berlin Camp of Young Talent.
Press
"[V]isually ravishing and rich in humanistic observations" - Hollywood Reporter