posted 12-08-2019 05:52 PM               

On the vast Kazakhstan Steppes, nine 16-year-olds prepare to graduate from the Akkol orphanage. Rockets launched overhead from the nearby Cosmodrome inspire their dreams as they write about and perform their imagined future-selves. Guided by the nomadic spirit and natural beauty of the Steppes, the teens explore questions of time and truth in relation to the challenging reality of their lives. Traditional Kazakh culture, global popular iconography, and space travel are infused throughout their performances and imaginatively used as protective talismans on their journey into an uncertain adulthood.

Lyazzat Khanim's Russian voice-over intertwines her reflections on her two summers spent working with the teens with her own childhood memories. Only a few years older than the teens, Lyazzat becomes part of their chosen family group. Time-lapse imagery of the cosmos intertwines with microscope footage of earthly materials such as flowers, metals, grass and dirt. As the teens perform their futures, these images spiral around them, making vivid their tie to the land and their dreams of flight.

An original score composed from the teenagers' written words recalls the imagined futures the teens carry as they leave the home that has guided them to this threshold, and to which they can never return.

A book comprised of the literary, photographic and musical projects developed during and after Finley's time with the teenagers is now available for pre-order as a companion to the film.

This book features Finley's portraits of all 16 teenagers, their respective creative writing in Russian and English, excerpts of the films original score written and sung by Kri Schlafer, and essays by Khanim, Matthews, and Finley. Designed by Bob Aufuldish.