Operating on the principle that "what drops from the sky is a gift from God," Kazakh nomads scavenge for scrap metal amid the debris thrown off by rockets ascending from the Baikonur launchpad. Leading his tribe in the treasure hunt is space-obsessed youth Iskander Orynbekov (Alexander Asochakov) nicknamed Gagarin after the Soviet cosmonaut. Gagarin keeps track of blast-offs via his ham radio, calculates the likely drop points and coordinates trade with other tribes.
Gagarin's space obsession reaches greater heights when he catches sight of beautiful French billionaire Julie Mahe (Marie de Villepin) on TV. Julie is among the latest batch of wealthy tourists able to pay $20 million for a week's space travel launching from Baikonur. Pic moves from charming curiosity to cross-cultural fairy tale when Julie falls to earth in a space capsule; ahead of the Russian authorities, Gagarin finds the luminous but comatose cosmonaut and hides her in his yurt. Gagarin awakens the sleeping beauty with a kiss, and while she's grateful for being saved, she also has amnesia.
