One of the popular classics of Soviet literature comes to the screen in this adaptation of Chingiz Aitmatov's novel, directed and co-scripted by Ardak Amirkulov. After returning home to Soviet Kazakhstan after the war, Tanabai (Dogdurbedk Kydraliev) is a happy man despite the violence and destruction he's seen. Tanabai is loved by his wife, he's respected for distinguishing himself on the battlefield and he's helping to run a successful cattle farm, but his true pride and joy is his horse Gulsary, a loyal steed who can outrun any pony in town. However, when Tanabai enters Gulsary in a race, the horse catches the eye of a Communist party official who wants Gulsary for his own. As Kazakhstan's farms are nationalized, the official uses his authority to take Gulsary away from Tanabai, and he's crushed by the loss. When Kazakhstan's farming communities suffer under their new national overseers, Tanabai falls into a funk and when he attempts to lose his sorrows in the arms of another woman, his marriage becomes the next casualty of the new regime. Proshai Gulsary (aka Farewell Gulsary) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival.