Aliya Zainalova

Two workers are having a leisurely conversation. More and more often people see in the sky red tails of comets, wonder creatures appear from nowhere and a roar is said to be coming from the underground. What is the meaning of it all? – asks one of them. The other replies that he has never seen anything like that in his life. And even if all of the above mentioned exists, is it worthwhile paying attention to it? The important thing is to do one’s job because life goes its own way.

25 year-old John, his teenage brother Erbol, and their sickly 12 year-old sister Aliya, are forced to leave their house in the Kazakh city of Almaty. By luck their mother left them a house in a remote village, where they plan to prepare their comeback. But the house appears to be on the wish list of the District Officer’s alcoholic brother, who has lived there illegally for 10 years.

Two brothers and their little sister are thrown out of their flat because they haven't paid the rent. The orphans pack up their few possessions and go out to the country, where the family owns a small plot of land. The children set up camp, knowing they have to fend for themselves. But this solution is insecure, too: they are told, in no uncertain terms, that all plots will shortly pass to the state unless at least the foundations of a house have been laid. The threesome get down to work, making night-time visits to neighboring sites to 'borrow' tools and materials, then building by day. But no sooner are the foundation walls complete than an unsympathetic policeman ad...