THIS IS WHAT I REMEMBER

The film “Esimde - This Is What I Remember” tells the tragic story of the old man Zarlyk, who returns to his hometown in Kyrgystan after spending twenty-three years of ordeal in a foreign land. He is brought back by his matured son Kubat. Much has changed during his absence: the morals of the villagers, mired in the realities of a changing world, radicalization of Islam, growing crime, and moral corrosive corruption began to consume...

Zarlyk’s wife Umsunai, having lost hope of his return, became religious and married the local authority Jaichy. Zaryk’s return unsettles her, but Zatlyk seems to have lost all his memories of his time in the village. Will the memory return to him and will Umsunai gain her lost happiness back when they are pressed by tight attitudes and immorality of the clergy, when love has eclipsed recklessness?