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In Uzbek, Orazbaj (Bekzod Mukhamedkarimov) yearns to flee his former fishing village on the dried-up Aral Lake, and he picks Manhattan as his destination after seeing a magazine photo. Living in the past, his father believes the water will return to Lake Aral some day. Orazbaj becomes a stowaway on a cargo freighter, thinking he will arrive in New York. Instead, he lands in Rotterdam, where he's taken in by married Katharina (Ariane Schluter), whose husband (Dirk Roofthooft) ships out for extended periods. Orazbaj finds acceptance with the lonely woman and her son (Rick van Castel), but her husband betrays him to the immigration police. Shown at the 1998 Rotterdam Film Festival.