Mergen, an engineer, returns to Tuva, dreaming of working for its betterment. Tuva is developing, with new houses and electricity reaching remote areas. However, the chairman of the collective farm, Elbek, opposes building a bridge across the turbulent mountain river. Meanwhile, Adar, the son of old Kawai-ool, has forgotten his countrymen and stayed in the city. The old man tried to bring Adar home, but he refused. Adar’s fiancée, Oyunmaa, waits for him in vain, disliking the sycophantic Daji who courts her. But the old bridge was destroyed by water, forcing Elbek to agree to a new one. Adar also returns to Tuva, and his friends and fiancée welcome him joyfully.

Matyora is a small village on an eponymous beautiful island; its existence is threatened with flooding by the construction of a dam, leaving its citizens forced to bid farewell to their beloved home.

This film is based on the classic novel of the same name by writer Ivan Franko, one of the most famous figures of Ukrainian literature. It is set during the 1200s and the invasion of the medieval Ukrainian-Russian state of Rus' by Chengis Khan's Golden Horde. Due to its having been produced during the Soviet era, the story's aspect of class-conflict between the "heroic" peasantry and the "decadent" noble particularly emphasized here.

A group of people setting out to find a previously assumed land and upon reaching it, not knowing how to deal with the customs of the place, have to deal with all the consequences.

The first months after the October Revolution. A small Red Army detachment stops at the Aksai farmstead, thereby causing discord in the family. Old Aksai treats his daughter-in-law Dinseme and her little brother Abido like slaves. But the Red Army soldiers treat them very differently. For the first time, a sense of dignity awakens in their souls. Meanwhile, Dynseme's husband, Gylik, together with another White Guard soldier from Ataman Semenov's gang, learns that the Red Army detachment is about to continue on its way and prepares a plan to destroy it.

Young scientist is going to taiga for his experiments but meets poachers on the way.