Tulpan review

Tulpan transports the viewer to the desolate, sand-blasted steppes of southern Kazakhstan, where nomadic sheep-herders eke out a precarious existence.

Living in a yurt (tent) with his sister’s family, young Asa (Askat Kuchencherekov) needs to get married in order to acquire his own flock.

Alas, the object of his desires, the beautiful Tulpan, is one elusive cat.

Doco-maker Sergei Dvortsevoy’s remarkable feature debut celebrates the unstinting determination of its characters with affection and humour, whisking into the mix spectacular landscapes, live animal births and Boney M’s ‘Rivers Of Babylon’.