The Russian filmmaker Sergey Dvortsevoy had gained a reputation for documentaries, but in the 2008 <i>Tulpan</i> he tries his hand at fiction with this story set in Kazakhstan. After serving in the Russian Navy, Asa (Askhat Kuchinchirekov) returns to the Kazakh steppe, living with his sister (Samal Yeslyamova) and brother-in-law (Ondasyn Besikbasov) while he tries to court the only unmarried young woman within hundred of kilometres. As a sort of documentary, <i>Tulpan</i> will be an interesting experience for viewers in the West, capturing the desolation of the Kazakh steppe and the hard wor...