The cooperation of Central Asian countries such as Kyrgyzstan helps Russia resist Western economic sanctions. Due to the country’s strategic location, all Chinese goods bound for Central Asia and Russia must cross its borders, and it serves as a transshipment point for goods from countries with which Putin is not officially allowed to trade. Investigative journalist Ali Toktakunov, a long-time staff member of Radio Free Europe’s Kyrgyz section, helped to uncover the deeper implications.

This was one of a series of cases that made Toktakunov an inconvenient figure to the corrupt regime. His wife Samara Sagynbaeva, the director of this film, was also in danger. Her diary-style documentary presents a portrait of a courageous journalist and a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy and the justice system in a country where freedom of speech is definitely not a certainty.

Basic information about the film