Aital is the last in a long line of Sakha shamen, supporting his disabled brother by making house calls in the Sakha city of Yakutsk alongside his unscrupulous business partner. Disillusioned with his vocation, Aital dispenses more common sense advice than mystical succour to his clients, whose complaints range from impotence to demonic possession – but he is still haunted by the suspicion that there is something otherworldly at play. Vladimir Munkuev’s witty, humane take on the role of the supernatural in a disenchanted world demonstrates Sakha cinema’s deep concern for native traditions.
