Gulfairus Ismailova

Kyz-Zhibek - Kazakh poetic folk legend of the 16th century, tells about the period in the Kazakh nation when the people suffered from bloody feuds. In those times each province of the Kazakh nation had its own Khan and each tried to supersede the other. The love story of Tolegen, the brave warrior, and the beauty Zhibek ends tragically because of inter-family strife. Tolegen is foully murdered by Bekejan (the batyr, or nobleman, of the rival family), who earlier strived for the hand of Zhibek. Zhibek commits suicide after learning about the death of Tolegen.

The inhabitants of Chukotka are shown to be cruelly exploited before the revolution. Once Chukotka is visited by the representative of the Kamchatka Revolutionary Committee, Los, and the ethnographer Zhukov. The news of the arrival of the Russians immediately disperses along the coast. Contrary to the pressure of the American Thomson and the local "oligarch" Alitet in Chukotka, fair trade laws are established, as a result of which the Americans and Alitet leave Chukotka.

A film is based on the novel by a Kazakh writer Sabit Mukanov. It shows Kazakhstan in 1916-1917 and how people reacted to tough times, the World War I and the ideas of the revolution and Bolshevism. Botagoz is a girl who never stopped believing in justice, despite numerous trials. She performed a heroic act and contributed to the battle against the White Guardsmen (Belogvardeytsi)