God Johogoi

Every year the Sakha people celebrate the festival of summer - Ysekh. This ethnic holiday celebrates the Aiyy deities and the revival of nature; it embraces ritual prayers, plenty of rich food and koumiss, dancing, folk games, and horse races. Jehegey Aiyy is a serene deity worshiped by people. Jehegey gave horses to humans, and now is the heavenly patron of horse raising. In the majority of recorded songs and legends Jehegey is a male creature, but in some of them it has feminine gender and is called sylgy aiyhyta. According to legends it sometimes appears to people as a loudly neighing light-colored stallion.

Directed by Sergey Potapov, God Johogoi leans on a strong ensemble — Pavel Chenyanov, Alya Poiseeva — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2015.