Djamshed Usmonov, director. In Tajik with English subtitles (90 min., 2002).

Hamro, an unrepentant prodigal son straight out of a Russian jail, returns to his hometown to help his mother die with dignity. But his debts are many and long overdue, the townspeople are tough as nails, and he gets more than he expected from the quiet village. In this dark comedy, his third feature, writer-director Djamshed Usmonov casts the town's population as its own persuasive self and his ow n mother and brother as the fractured yet formidable domestic couple.