The grim realities of life in Kazakhstan provide the backdrop for this gritty exercise in neo-realism from filmmakers Sano Shinju and Erlan Nurmuhambetov. Ayub is a Uyghur Muslim who was forced to leave his homeland in China with his sister Maria and now lives in the Kazak city of Almaty. While Ayub has a part-time job making bricks and hustles for odd job on the streets, he and his sister live in a filthy apartment in a ramshackle building owned by an unscrupulous landlord. Maria, meanwhile, occasionally turns tricks to bring in some extra money but has contracted tuberculosis and is often too sick to work. One of Ayub's few friends introduces him to a band of Muslim fundamentalists, and having grown bitter of his life in exile, Ayub welcomes their message of anger against the West. Ayub soon moves from merely talking politics with his new friends to taking violent action as a potential suicide bomber. Yashi (aka Tears) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival.
by Mark Deming
synopsis
