The clash of two styles of approaches to people, science, and business is the main conflict of the film. Both central characters - the head of the Altai complex space station and the experiment leader Andrei - are people devoted to science. But Altai is an emotional person, he manages to take care of people, forgive them their small shortcomings and mistakes. Andrey is dry, sometimes even rude to his employees. His absorption in work sometimes borders on selfishness. This gives rise to a clash with Touma, a gifted physicist, but a man of a different plane.

The screen adaptation of the novel "Abai" by Mukhtar Auezov recreates the story of prominent Kazakh poet and philosopher Abay Kunanbayev. The famous Kazakh poet became friends with the Russian exile, scientist Nifont Dolgopolov. Under the influence of their growing friendship, Abai formed some of his academic ideas and principles.

Aidar and Galiya have long been in love with each other. Aidar works as a horse breeder, and Galiya is a senior herdswoman at a collective farm stud farm. One day, due to an accidental misunderstanding, the young people quarrel. Angarbay, the store manager, who is also in love with Galiya, is trying to take advantage of this.

The first years of Soviet power. The rich Aktanbai decides to steal his flocks abroad. However, only the shepherd Malbagar knows the secret paths in the mountains. Therefore, Aktanbai, giving the orphan girl Nurzhamal to Malbagar as a wife, demands to indicate the way through the mountains for this. On the way to the border, Malbagar, heeding the requests of Nurzhamal, who did not want to be his wife, helps the girl escape from the camp of Aktanbai. Years pass. Nurzhamal, after graduating from medical school, returns to his native village...

In the center of the plot of the film is the fate of a young girl Aigul. She works well in the collective farm fields, acts as a leader of the youth, dreams of creating her own folk theater in her native collective farm. The famous singer Dosai Nurlanov, by a misunderstanding, gets into the "Singing village" (this is the playful name of the collective farm) and becomes a witness to the growing culture of the village. This inspires him to become the head of the people's theater...

1954. The first detachment of young virgin lands arrives in the remote Kazakh steppe. The old forester Bulanbai warns the guys about the difficulties, but the youth boldly gets to work. We have to fight not only with the harsh nature, but also with the inertia of the director of the trust of state farms Kuanysh Korkutov. Contrary to his instructions, the director of the Komsomolsky state farm Kudryash prefers to process heavy, but more promising land masses. The secretary of the regional committee Beisov supports Kudryash. Korkunov is being removed from office. Soon a new group of young people arrives at the state farm...