Tokon Daiyrbekov

On a frozen and forbidding shoreline of northern Sakhalin Island, to the north of Japan, live the Nyvkh people, whose austere, heroic struggle for survival depends solely on their ability to hunt the seal and to fish. This blunt glimpse into their quarters, animistic rituals, and daily (and nightly) lives has all the appearance of a well-shot documentary but is in fact a scripted film with convincing special effects, based on a novella of the same title by the gifted and controversial Soviet Kirghiz writer, Chingiz Aitmatov. "Dog running at the edge of the sea" is what the Nyvkhs call the forbidding place they have domesticated as their home, husbanding and speaking of it by means of myths and "poetry of the concrete" with which they commemorate their savage lives.

After a serious conflict with the editor of a local newspaper, journalist Temir Ataev began working as a teacher at a boarding school for children of shepherds. The first difficulties did not frighten Temir. Captivated by his new work, Ataev was able to win over the children, who were mostly from disadvantaged families, and restore order in the teaching staff.

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.

"Mirages of Love" is a Soviet-Syrian film directed by Tolomush Okeyev about the fate of Mani, a medieval oriental master.

Two elderly women from a remote mountain village must climb the stairs of a tall apartment building to visit a relative. As they make their way up, pausing to rest and talking about life, memories, and moments from the past, the stairwell becomes a space where stories, encounters, and quiet reflections unfold.

The Russian Descendant of the Snow Leopard is based on a famous Kirghizian folktale. Apparently the Kirghizian folks had plenty of time to tell this story: to print a full synopsis would result in a novelette. Essentially, the story involves a proud group of highland hunters called the Snow Leopards, who in order to survive a brutal winter must request help from the Lowland people. The price for this assistance is the hand of the Snow Leopard's daughter, who is promised in marriage to a wealthy Lowland trader. During the Springtime wedding celebration, the trader becomes fascinated by a stranger who wins all the athletic contests. This "male" contestant turns out to be a woman, who has arrived to seek freedom for her imprisoned husband. The subsequent romance between the trader and the beautiful stranger results in disaster and bloodshed for both the Snow Leopards and the Lowlanders.