Despite the 1994 ceasefire, there is still no real peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which continue to fight fiercely over the mountainous Nagorny Karabakh region. More than 25 years since the war, nationalistic passions seem as strong as ever. The litany of resentments and accusations continues to meet with denial in an ongoing dialogue of the deaf. With the restraint that comes with our foreigners’ gaze, Under the Same Sun offers an attentive ear, in search for understanding in these young countries with old wounds.

The mining town of Norilsk sits in the heart of the Siberian Arctic, huddled behind its wind walls and bathed in the smoke and sulfur of its factories. While teenagers in the icy city dream of exile and nickel miners ponder the lost Soviet comradeship, descendants of Gulag prisoners and theatre artists seek to shed light on Norilsk's dark past, buried under ice and censorship. A Moon of Nickel and Ice fondly follows the lives of these inhabitants of the end of the world.