The Stars Caravan (2000)

A story about dreams and the manipulative power of films in a chaotic Kyrgyzstan, seen through the eyes of two cinema projectionists. The Kyrgyz town of Naryn is preparing for the 1000-year anniversary of Manas, their national hero. The complicated preparations are upset as a group of Islamic rebels invade Kyrgyzstan. The work and dreams of the film's protagonists, projectionists named Zarylbek and Murat, epitomise the present and the past in Kyrgyzstan, struggling through a process of transition. Through their eyes, we see a story that reflects the manipulative power that films exert on a colourful people influenced by socialism, the market economy, the Islamic faith and their nomadic culture.