Every night, a fisherman tells his son about his heroic adventures at the bottom of the sea. One day, the child discovers the truth.

A story about people living far beyond Moscow's Ring Road, about inner freedom, finding happiness in the smallest things, and a sincere love for one's homeland. The 39th Ancestral Land introduces us to local traditions and ways of life, offering an outside perspective on a Russia that exists not only in major regional centers, but also in small villages and settlements hidden across the country.

Omar Hapisov is a villager from Dagestan. At first glance, he looks no different from his neighbors in the village of Levashi: a patched-up Lada, hands covered in engine oil, a cap worn at the back of his head. He lives with his wife and children in a house in the mountains.
But his passion, and the meaning of his entire life, is waiting in his garage: a remarkable paleontological collection.

The film tells the story of Mukhtar Baysangurov, a restorer of medieval Alanian architectural monuments. A colorful and charismatic highlander, Mukhtar was born and raised in the mountains, where every stone and every trail is familiar to him.
Neither dizzying heights nor the lack of basic living conditions can stop Baysangurov and his team as they work on monuments high in the Caucasus. At an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level, amid harsh mountain winds and far from civilization, the restorers carefully and painstakingly return towers and fortresses to their historical appearance.
Three of Mukhtar's adult sons have followed in their father's footsteps and often work alongside him. Restoration has long become more than a profession for these people. It is their life's calling.

Наблюдать за укладом походной жизни реставраторов – настоящее удовольствие. Их существование – это и ежедневный кропотливый труд, и ощущение сопричастности к застывшей в камне многовековой истории, к которой они буквально «прикасаются» руками, и занятные байки у костра за приготовлением дымящейся ухи… Для этих увлеченных людей реставрация давно стала не только профессией, но и делом всей жизни.

Nina Vladimirovna Dymchenko, a paramedic from the small village of Sarat in the Omsk Region, has spent almost 40 years looking after the health of her fellow villagers. One day, she decides to take a vacation and plans to recover at a sanatorium in Altai.
The news that Nina Vladimirovna will be away for two weeks causes mild panic in the village. Her final week before vacation reveals just how deeply the villagers love their paramedic and how devoted she is to her profession.
It is only here, among her fellow villagers, that Nina Vladimirovna feels truly happy.

One day, Ainaz accidentally loses one of the sheep his father cares deeply about. He decides not to return home until he finds it.

Sergey Vasilyev, an electricity station dispatcher and community chess coach from Udmurtia, has always dreamed of turning his village into the chess capital of the region. Today, Debesy is known far beyond its borders.

It is Gia's ninth birthday. He lives with his grandmother, grandfather, and Uncle Anzorik. But the day does not go according to plan, and Gia makes his most heartfelt wish.

Based on the short story Profile and Full Face by Vasily Shukshin.
Ivan, a driver at a collective farm, has had his pride wounded. He was unfairly fired for drinking and sent to work in a pigsty. Ivan refuses to go. Cleaning up after pigs is beneath his dignity.
He feels trapped. He feels sorry for his mother, who will be left completely alone if he abandons the village. But wounded pride is not the only thing pushing him toward the city. Ivan has never found his place in the world and does not understand why he lives or what he works for. After all, even a horse works. Is that really just so it can eat?
Ivan leaves. Is he running away from other people, or from himself? Or perhaps he is finally setting out to find the person he really is?

Alexey returns home from the Great Patriotic War. He suspects his wife of infidelity and is forced to make a choice: stay with his family or leave.

The residents of Kara-Suu live in a place blessed with clean water and beautiful nature. Unfortunately, most people fail to see the beauty around them and make their living by cutting walnut trees and hunting animals.
As they watch the forests and wildlife disappear, the villagers begin to think about the land they will leave to future generations. They decide to stop the logging and protect nature.

The Mari religion took shape in the early Middle Ages. Despite centuries of persecution and hardship, it managed to preserve its sacred places and carry one of the world's oldest traditions into the present: reverence for and worship of the forces of nature.
Mari philosophy teaches that we are children of nature and children of God. Kart Mikhail acts as a mediator between people and the divine, continuing, like his father before him, to serve his people.

A young woman on the threshold of adulthood reflects on her village, her parents, and her brothers, whom she will soon have to leave behind.

Andrey is an ordinary villager. He works three jobs and, together with his loving wife, raises four children.
His friends call him a jack of all trades. When he was young, an accident cost him both hands, but he refuses to let limitations define his life. When people around him respond with pity, he simply answers: "Thank you, I'll do it myself."

The work of Soviet writer Fyodor Abramov, one of the leading representatives of Russian village prose and a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, is filled with pain over the dying village, reflections on the Russian North, and questions about Russia's fate.
What does the Russian North look like today?

A 30-year-old man returns to his childhood home to sell it and encounters a forgotten imaginary friend: a brave Knight.
The Knight refuses to accept the adult his childhood friend has become.

A Shaman, a Priest, a UAZ driver, and Grandmother Valya are residents of Khuzhir, the only settlement on Olkhon Island in the middle of Lake Baikal.
The characters talk about their lives and the problems they face while living in such a unique place. But the film's true main character is Lake Baikal itself, giving people the strength and faith to overcome their difficulties.

Successful businessman Alexander returns to his small homeland determined to transform and revive a forgotten village in Mordovia.
But the villagers reject his innovations. They are not ready to change the way of life they have always known.