An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

Dyuishen is assigned to the mountainous Kirghiz region of Central Asia by the Young Communist League after he is discharged from the Red Army. It is 1923 and the Civil war has ended. The former soldier becomes a teacher, bringing the Leninist doctrine to the remote Moslem area where elders did not allow children to go to school. He falls in love with one of his students, but the young woman is sold by her father to a wealthy chieftain.

Kyrgyzstan, the 1920s. In a remote mountain village, against the will of the local elites and in defiance of centuries-old traditions, a woman—Urkuya Salieva—is elected chair of the agricultural cooperative. Salieva is determined to build a new life with an uncompromising resolve against anyone who would obstruct the poor, a stance unusual for a woman.

In order to protect huge areas of arable land and pastures from periodic flooding, a young scientist Meder Alymkulov is exploring the possibility of erecting a natural dam in the mountains using a directional explosion method in laboratory conditions. However, only a test explosion in natural conditions can confirm or refute laboratory results. Meder takes responsibility for organizing the explosion and begins to prepare the tests...