Gulshat Omarova

Austere direction, stark imagery and magnificent performances combine in a memorable portrait of a vulnerable and humane young man, blossoming in the toxic soil of a devastated country. This beautiful and moving feature, set in modern-day Kazakhstan, depicts the hard choices a young man makes when he's caught between poverty, crime and love, guided only by his wits and his better nature. (Picture This! Entertainment)

Aidai the baksy, or witch doctor, lives in the mountains and helps people. She uses mysterious actions to cure the sick and to give infertile couples children. As capitalist forces begin to encroach on tradition, the first casualty is any culture's most fundamental inheritance - land. The healer has to leave her land because the mob thinks the location is suitable for a filling station. A harsh battle between supernatural good and earthly evil ensues. (Warsaw Film Festival)