Oleg Poltoratskikh

“Whatever falls from heaven, you may keep.” So goes the unwritten law of the Kazakh steppes. A law avidly adhered to by the inhabitants of a small village, who collect the space debris that falls downrange from the nearby Baikonur space station. The last two youthful members of the village are the radio operator Iskander, known as Gagarin, and the spirited Nazira. While Nazira finds it increasing difficult to conceal her love for Iskander by means of her unconventional behaviour, Iskander is evidently not only crazy about Baikonur and the vastness of outer space, but also deeply smitten with the beautiful French astronaut Julie Mahé, whose journey to the stars he wistfully follows on television.

The main characters of the film are residents of different places of this country, most common people, with whom most uncommon things, pure wonders, happen. Semyon and Lyuba, a family of fireguards, have a chance to fulfill a dream – to go to Moscow to take part in their favorite TV show “Field of Miracles” (“Pole Chudes”), where they should make a life choice “trophy or money?” An inexperienced officer of Patrol-Guard Service and at the same time an experienced loser Sanya will have to not only survive his first day of service but also to accept his wife’s labors and to reanimate his partner. Four newly acquainted fellows must by any means fly to Moscow in non-flying weather, and a couple of young lovers must reconcile their irreconcilable parents by some mysterious way. Valera has to decide on a dilemma: to save mankind from the Deluge or just to fly with his karaoke-alien-friends in their old UFO? All these things can happen only once a year – on December, 31!

The Story of an Old Woman was filmed in one shot without any cutting or pasting. Annotation from author: In this film I wanted to show how the one person can be violent and aggressive, and the other one helpless and defenseless. Our heroes hide their flaws behind the beautiful words and actions. Unfortunately a betrayal of the family became more common, and the opportunity to get hit in the back from the nearest person is already a reality. The film is about the family relationship, happiness and sorrow. The main thing is to stay human in all circumstances.