DRUGOYE NEBO

Ali, a shepherd in the abandoned Eurasian Steppe, sets off for Moscow to look for his wife who moved there many years ago to start a new, better life of her own. Their son accompanies Ali to the big city, which proves to be an inhospitable, dangerous place where they partake in the fate of the many immigrant workers from Central Asia, living in meagerly built migrant accommodation and making ends meet as day labourers. On this modest income the two live from hand to mouth, searching for wife and mother as and when the time allows it. In doing so they attempt, within emigrant circles as well as via official channels, to find any clues as to her possible whereabouts and follow up each and every trace that she has left behind in the labyrinth that is the Russian capital. Ali is forced to follow a tortuous, at times almost hopeless road through a Moscow that betrays its glamourous image and ends up paying a heavy price for the dream of finding his love again. An impressive film debut that, not least because of its captivating camera work, provides a masterful setting for a story told in documentary-like fashion.