A boy loses his voice to grief; the steppe itself must teach him to sing again.
A little boy Anatole lives in 1960s in the steppe in Kazakhstan with his parents-archaeologists. One day he witnesses the accidental death of his brother, this drama traumatizes the boy so much that he loses his ability to speak. Once he meets an old Kazakh who will teach him to hear again the world around him and will teach him how to speak again. The whole life of Anatole depends from now on from his ability to hear. His ear connects him to the world. 50 years later, the steppe calls him again.
Sound
The steppe itself becomes a character through breathtaking audio design.
Cinematography
Vast Kazakh landscapes that swallow human grief whole.
Director
Gérard Depardieu
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kazakh oral tradition frames hearing as sacred; the film treats deafness not as disability but as spiritual crisis.
Depardieu's directorial debut in Kazakhstan — he learned basic Kazakh for scenes and insisted on shooting during actual steppe storms.
FR
KZ
