Kyrgyzstan today: Just married Alisher (18 years old) has to leave his pregnant wife Dildora (17 years old) to work in Russia, 3 500 km from home. He’s one of the 12—16 Russian guest workers, who are forced to leave their countries and work, mostly illegally, under harsh conditions in low-paid jobs in order to support their families. After eight months of hardship in Moscow, Alisher decides to return to his young family, although he has failed to earn enough money to provide for them. This is a love story clouded by migration and modern slavery.
Magnus Gertten, director and producer, previously TV- and radio journalist, has directed a number of highly praised documentaries for the Swedish national television, some of them also theatrical releases. He has so far occupied himself mainly with stories from his own city, for instance the two films on the football team Malmo FF; True Blue (1998) and True Blue 2 (2002), both shown at international film festivals. He is currently working on a trilogy of films about the city of Malmo – from a historic point of view – with dramatic life stories.
