Aka was the name we created for the first Russian who appeared in our family. For us children, he was some sort of “uncle” (ata, aga, ava). He spoke fluently Kyrgyz and worked for us. Through Aka’s story my film tells the presence of Slavic people — Russians and Ukrainians above all  — in my country, Kyrgyzstan. They appeared a long time ago in Central Asia, starting with the epic of Manas, where they are described as having legs “as long as a minaret,” going by foot, and eating “the dust of the earth.” Besides interviews of contemporaries and older people, living in the capital and in remote villages and towns, the film uses archival material and what could be gathered from flee markets — photo albums, books, and domestic objects, all speaking of what is left of Slavic life and culture today in this country.