Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, just after the civil war. Protagonist Darwesh, a film-maker by profession, is investigating the state of people threatened with death and violence, living in a cultural vacuum. At the start of the film, Darwesh picks up a length of film stock from the floor. The pictures are unrecognisable. He decides to save the piece of film to find out later what exactly is on it. Presence then follows him in his meetings with his friends Sergei and Safar. Their discussions are about their urgent need to leave the city, a place that determines their existence and structures their lives. Filmed images of the civil war land on Darwesh’ desk. He reads a letter from a girlfriend in Europe and has a nightmare vision that her visit will end in rape. Depressing reality forces Darwesh to think about the possibility or impossibility of people escaping the influence of their direct surroundings.Tolib Chamidov: ‘The events in the film take place in the real lives of the actors; the actors play themselves. I like to see my film as a documentary that uses the conventions of narrative film.’
