Plot

In the late-1990s squalid town of Nalchik, a poor young Jewish couple is kidnapped and a grievous ransom is demanded, as bitter resentments and cruel dilemmas come to light, magnifying the small community's grave predicament.

1998, Nalchik. A Jewish family is in trouble: the youngest son and his bride do not come home, and in the morning, a ransom note arrives. The ransom is so high that the family is forced not only to sell its small business, but also to seek help from its fellow tribesmen.—rurban

In the late-1990s squalid and dismal town of Nalchik, capital of the disintegrated Russian Empire's Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, the recently-settled in Jewish family of the Kofts find themselves in a grave predicament, when the son, David, and his local fiancée, Lea, are kidnapped shortly after their engagement. But to have the innocent lovers back in the small community, a grievous and absolutely imperative ransom is demanded; one that David's struggling family simply can't cover, even if they sold their precious but meagre possessions. Little by little, as the communal problem is magnified, bitter resentments and cruel dilemmas come to light, in the background of a dangerous clandestine affair between David's rebellious sister, Ila, and her Kabardian boyfriend. Suddenly, Ila's obedience becomes a key element; however, can the independent youth put aside her wild impulses for her brother's sake?—Nick Riganas