THE MOVING PICTURE BOY ARCHIVE

NEBESNYY VERBLYUD

Original title: Небесный верблюд
Transliteration: Nebesnyy verblyud
English translation of title: Celestial Camel
Year of release: 2015
Director: Yuriy Feting
Country of Production: Russia
Genre: Drama, coming-of-age
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes
Language: Russian, some Kalmyk
Availability: A DVD with English subtitles is available (the screenshots below are from this DVD).

Principal boys, below, l-r: Mikhail Gasanov as Bayir, Danzan Badrashkiev as his younger brother Sanalka, and Petr Novikov as Lyskha, nicknamed Quarter.

Synopsis
Bayir is the eldest of three siblings, whose family owns a 'celestial' baby camel, believed to bring good fortune because it was born beneath a camel shaped cloud. When, however, the boy's father sells it, the camel's mother escapes her enclosure to find her calf. Her disappearance is a potential disaster for the family, so Bayir takes off across the steppe to retrieve her, meeting various people along the way, some friendly, others hostile, in a story that becomes a combination of coming-of-age movie and road trip.

The movie is set in the Republic of Kalmykia, the dry steppe land which is home to the Kalmyks. Kalmykia is the only region of Europe with a predominently Mongolic population and the only part of Europe where the predominant religion is Dharmic (i.e. is a religion originating in the Indian subcontinent), namely Buddhism of the Tibetan variety.

The trailer for the film can be viewed on Youtube here.

Screenshots