On the Edge of the Snow
Mullo was born in a remote Tajik mountain village far from civilization, in the isolated highlands of Yaghnob. This tiny Central Asian nation had been living there for centuries, since the times of Alexander the Great until recently, saving intact their ancient language and culture, having no schools, hospitals, shops, money or even tap water.
In the 1970s the Soviet authorities deported the entire tribe of the Yaghnobi to the hot deserted lowlands to cultivate cotton. Mullo was 9 years old then.
Today Mullo still lives in the lowlands, in the decayed city of Zafarobod, works as a mullah, a teacher of Arabic and a baker simultaneously and has a big Muslim family.
He is obsessed with the dream of returning to the lost paradise of his childhood, despite the conflict and hardships it will create in his family.
We are following his preparations for the trip to Yaghnob (where there are already a few families who returned after the collapse of the Soviet Union); the strains it imposes on his family (his young son is unwilling to follow his father's “sacred mission” and Mullo's brother is skeptical about all the Yagnobi “sweet memories”); and eventually, the long and difficult return to his homeland and hardships Mullo will encounter after he settles down and rebuilds the house of his ancestors.
In the 1970s the Soviet authorities deported the entire tribe of the Yaghnobi to the hot deserted lowlands to cultivate cotton. Mullo was 9 years old then.
Today Mullo still lives in the lowlands, in the decayed city of Zafarobod, works as a mullah, a teacher of Arabic and a baker simultaneously and has a big Muslim family.
He is obsessed with the dream of returning to the lost paradise of his childhood, despite the conflict and hardships it will create in his family.
We are following his preparations for the trip to Yaghnob (where there are already a few families who returned after the collapse of the Soviet Union); the strains it imposes on his family (his young son is unwilling to follow his father's “sacred mission” and Mullo's brother is skeptical about all the Yagnobi “sweet memories”); and eventually, the long and difficult return to his homeland and hardships Mullo will encounter after he settles down and rebuilds the house of his ancestors.