Roof of the World

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The film opens with an animated map. Starting off in Moscow, the center of the new empire, it leads through Samara and Orenburg to Tashkent, Osh, and further on to the Pamir Mountains of Central Asia. The crew is shown arriving in Osh, in present-day Kyrgyzstan, the expedition’s base. Camera records a picturesque bazaar, veiled women in the streets, and the expedition’s crew, horses, and camels, along with their heavy loads. After leaving Osh, the crew crosses the Taldyk Pass, and makes its first stop in the Alay Valley. Different elements of the trek are featured, including crossing mountain rivers, traversing snowy passes, and descending into valleys in bloom. In the Alay Valley the camera records the practices of the Kyrgyz nomads – constructing a tent, keeping goats, sheep, and horses, making dairy products, and working a traditional one-shuttle weaver’s loom. The community is presented as traditional and self-sufficient.