In the center of the story is the life of the indigenous people of the village Bakhtia at the river Yenisei in the Siberian Taiga. The camera follows the protagonists in the village over a period of a year. The natives, whose daily routines have barely changed over the last centuries, keep living their lives according to their own cultural traditions. The expressive pictures are accompanied by original sound bites quoting the villagers.

Dodgy car salesman Bill Rander runs a racket with the help of his devoted orphaned nephew Jeremy. The boy is supposed to seduce his new history teacher Carrie Ryans, whose ex Dean contests custody over their daughter Lacey, so Bill can make compromising pictures to blackmail her. But after she encourages his academic talent, even heps to apply for a scholarship, Jeremy gets real feelings for her and calls the deal off, just after Bill murdered her wealthy dad, eager for the inheritance.

Daniel Madighan and his music band mates gave young Cate a jolly youth in rural Ireland until the death of his wife Marie, which forces him to entrust her to family in Dublin. She grows up to become a lifestyle magazine editor in New York. While preparing her wedding to a medic tycoon, she receives Danny's ashes and his last request, returning to Ireland to scatter them. Grudgingly she does so, discovering her roots. Thus she learns Daniel didn't deserve her disdain and meets handsome, idealistic lawyer Connor Bailey, whom she falls in love with but seems unwilling to cancel her society engagement for.