The Horse Thieves

Together with other villagers, a man says goodbye to his family with the purpose of going to sell his horse at the market. On the way, he is robbed and killed. His wife and children decide to return to her home village after the funeral. A mysterious man reappears to help her move. It is someone who abandoned this woman years ago, without giving any explanation. The man bears a great resemblance to one of the children, little Olzhas, who one day, together with him, will find his father’s murderers.

Japanese Lisa Takaba and Kazakhstan’s Yerlan Nurmukhanbetov co-direct this film. The former is the author of four films: The Pinkie (2014), Haruko’s Paranormal Laboratory (2015), and Signal 100 (2019). And for the young Kazakh filmmaker The Horse Thieves, it is his second film after Walnut Tree (2015).