Ivan Muradkhanov

First‑grader Yegor Tarantin from the village of Verkhnyaya Kurya is a great storyteller. He cares about everything and is always coming up with incredible stories. One day, he thought that Kostya Khokholkov, a student who worked as an entertainer at the nearby recreation center, was an alien from outer space.

1941. The children of repressed parents, residents of a special orphanage, are escaping from the Germans on a boat. With them are a young teacher, Katya, an encircled resident, Kostya, and Private Polushkin. Everyone—adults and children alike—faces an unbearably difficult journey.

Several days from the life of a landowner's estate on the eve of Christmas are shown through the perception of a boy. The action takes place in Russia in the second half of the 19th century.