Year 2009. A small town on the shores of Issyk-Kul. Aktan, a schoolboy who dreams of joining the ranks of the National Security Committee, is faced with the injustice of the justice system. A local deputy is ready to do anything to protect his son Alan. Having failed to achieve justice under the law, Aktan and his childhood friend Kuba seize the courthouse with weapons in their hands.

Based on the story of Chingiz Aitmatov "The White Steamer". In a forest cordon, lost high in the mountains, an old man and an old woman and his daughter live with their family - a husband and a seven-year-old son named Shambala, which means "boy-candle" or "boy who radiates light." Shambhala faithfully believes in the ancient myth of the Mother Deer, who saved the last baby of their kind, Bugu, from enemies and fed him with her milk. And although over time people exterminated the deer, the boy believes that someday the deer will still return to their land.

The journey of sculptor Akzholtoy begins with a somber telegram: Esengeldi, a close family friend, has passed away. Returning to his village with his mother to honor the memory of Esengeldi, Akzholtoy finds himself enveloped by the echoes of his own distant childhood.

Young Altyn eagerly leaves pastoral life behind for the modern comforts of the capital, but soon finds a corrupted society clashing with the values of her ancestors when confronted with an unexpected pregnancy. Mine development, melting glaciers and the loss of tradition are prominent symptoms of the current transformation of Kyrgyzstan, a country not often represented on the big screen.