Nomad Meets the City

Former herder Tumurbaatar works tirelessly as a garbage truck driver in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, striving to better his daughter's education and compete in the modern economy. Torn between life in the city and his home and family in a countryside town, the pressures of distance and separation take a toll. A doctor in the countryside, his wife, Tungaa, maintains her roots and helps tend the family herd, as Tumurbaatar’s visits home reveal fault lines in their marriage and identities. They both speak romantically about retiring as true nomads, but she sees what he does not: his nomadic roots are already lost to the city. In spite of it all, they cling fast to dreams for their children to lead lives they cannot.