The head of the colony, Nazarov, dreams of being transferred to Moscow and launches an adventure: a film studio in the taiga as a "method of re-education." Matvey Selyuzhitsky, a Moscow-based video director, is transferred to the colony. Nazarov offers a deal: if you shoot a film, you'll have a chance for parole. The director agrees and steps onto the set for the first time... surrounded by prisoners and a sawmill.