KIRGHIZSTAN, HORSEMEN OF THE HEAVENLY MOUNTAINS

In the heart of Central Asia, lies Kirghizstan, a small, nearly-forgotten country, a people of horsemen that the Russians tried to subjugate for nearly a century. Today the Kirghiz are a people in search of an identity.An independent state since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kirghizstan is now beginning to open up to the world. After 70 years of Soviet rule, the Kirghiz are trying to recover their ancestral values. An epic poem, orally transmitted for over a thousand years, recounts the adventures of Manas, a legendary hero who epitomizes the Kirghiz spirit. In this film, the narrator sets off in search of Manas, each phase of his journey representing another encounter with the Kirghiz people. But what meaning can a hero like Manas have today in a country that is rapidly heading toward a market economy?