After getting expelled from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts for his free-thinking ideas, young artist Kosta Khetagurov returns to his homeland of Iriston, known in Russian as Ossetia. Despite financial troubles and governmental persecution, he tirelessly advocates for the Ossetian people while honing his craft as a poet, playwright, and artist.
Two poor people, Ossetian and Ingush, are fighting each other over a meter of land in the mountains. A revolution begins, and their younger brothers become brother-friends.
The great Ossetian poet, Kosta Khetagurov, returns from exile to his native village of Nar. Yet the joy of coming back to his homeland is short-lived: Nar is even poorer than it was before. The Aldars, princes who rule the villages with an iron fist, continue to act with impunity.
