“A stirring personal story set against the grand sweep of early 20th century history” – The Hollywood Reporter
Orphaned on the harsh steppe of 1930s Kazakhstan, ravaged by crippling famine and Stalin’s deadly purges, little Ilyas withdraws from the world. Hiking deep into the mountains he grows up as a hermit, living by the old ways, in a cave among a wolf pack – but with one eye on the march of the modern world far down below. He’s shunned as an outsider and scorned as a traitor for refusing to fight in World War II – but he is haunted by a lingering longing for someone he left behind. This moving drama was recently selected as the Kazakh entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards®.
