The Light Thief

In this colourful modern-day parable of good and evil, a humble village electrician devotes his compassion and ingenuity to destitute neighbours in a wind-swept valley of Kyrgyzstan. Like moths, everybody is drawn to his kindness; those with short circuits in their electricity and those with short circuits in their marriage, those who have taken all the power in the city, and those who have given up the will to live. Played with wry humanity by writer-director Aktan Arym Kubat, the trusting electrician "Mr. Light" strikes a suspect bargain with a rich developer running for local office, as unemployment threatens the survival of the community. Stoking a dream to supply wind-generated electricity to the whole valley, the modest visionary comes up against an increasingly dark cloud of corruption in this affecting tale of solidarity and ordinary decency amid the injustices and hardships of a changing world.