
Kazakhstan,the50s.Themainheroineofthefilmisanine-year-oldgirlAlyonka,whowassenttotowntostudybyherparents.Thegirlmeetsvariouscompanionsonherlongway.Thestoryistoldonherbehalfaboutpeoplecultivatingthevirginland,theirjoysandsorrows,dreamsandtroubles.<br/> Setin1955whenmanymigratedfromRussiatotheSteppesofKazakhstan,thisisthetripbacktotheCanalfromthefrontierandfarmsbyanumberofpeoplewhotelltheirsettlerstories.AlenkaMuratova(Ovodova)isawinsome13yearoldwhotalksDmitryProkovich,thechiefmechanicfortheSoviet,intogivinguphisseatinthetrucktoayoungmotherwithherinfantdaughter.ThenAlenkaandDmitrysharethebackoftheopentruckwithayoungwoman,newlygraduateddentistwhohasnotbeenabletofindaposition,Stefan,ahitchhikerwithadogwhohopeshisupper-classwifewillreturntohimandthecountryside,andVasselinaPetrovolka,awomanwholostoneofhertwindaughtersinaridingaccidentbytherivershortlyaftertheyarrived,andnowisreturningtotelltheothertwinofhersister'sfate.Awarmheartedlookatcommonfolkstravelinginthefrontier.








