Tulpan

Sergei Dvortsevoy's feature debut is a deliciously droll tale of a Kazakh sailor out to win a wife and set himself up as a shepherd on the steppes.

Acclaimed documentarist Sergei Dvortsevoy made his feature debut with this deliciously droll character study of a young Kazakh sailor returning to the cramped home he shares with his sister's family on the steppes, where he aims to find a wife and set himself up with his own herd of sheep. Boisterous yet deadpan, heartfelt but often very funny, it's helped no end by the naturalistic performances.