Almagul Menlibayeva's film EXODUS was shot in Karaganda in the centre of Kazakhstan. The film shows a glimpse of a community of nomads, who, following their gathering, prepare to depart. This departure is interrupted, however, by two women resolutely traversing the lonely steppe. However, the film ends with a departure en masse: a caravan of people, cars, lorries and horses slowly begin trailing their way towards the horizon. Menlibayevas’ film provides us with a portrait of a culture torn between age-old tradition and an existence in a globalised world. Both poetic and melancholy, the film illustrates the quest for identity and a departure for an uncertain future.