Up and away

Plot Summary

Hodja lives in Pjort, a small dessert village in Bulgislav, together with his mother and father and his goat Raya. Pjort is a nice and interesting place, but very small, and Hodja is dreaming about the big adventurous world beyond the mountains on the horizon. Hodja´s father is not supportive of his son’s dreams. He insists that Hodja stays put. The world is not adventurous but dangerous and folks from a small town are not supposed to mingle with people of the outside world. Hodja is supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps, and become a tailor.

When Hodja suddenly gets an unforeseen chance he grabs it with both hands. On a fantastic flying carpet, given to him by old El Faza, Hodja, accompanied by his faithfull friend Raya the goat, flies towards the sun, on a mission to bring back El Faza´s young grandchild.

Petto, the city of the sultan, is really something else. It is huge and chaotic; scoundrels are looming behind every corner. Which doesn´t make it any easier for a naïve country boy like Hodja to hold on to his amazing carpet. Luckily, Hodja runs into Emerald, a wonderful and clever city girl, who knows the tricks and trades of Petto. But In spite of his partnership with Emerald he is tricked by “The Rat,” a mean thief, who steals the magic carpet, and Hodja´s lack of self-confidence is growing. The Rat immediately takes the flying carpet to the sultan, hoping to receive a reward and become commander of the royal army. For, everybody knows that the sultan’s biggest wish is to board a flying carpet and rise above the citizens of Petto, showing them that he is not only a rich, fat and lazy dictator, but also the only flying sultan in the world.

Hodja tries to overcome his “little town blues.” He decides to enter the Sultans palace, and to Hodja´s surprise Emerald decides to help him. Assisted by Salep, the old copper smith and his daughter Pearl, Hodja and Emerald manage to get past the guards and enter the most fantastic palace east of the moon. The problem is that they, of course, are not supposed to be there, and the new commander of the royal guard, the Rat, is their worst enemy. Hodja is caught trying to “steal” his carpet back and is thrown into jail, which offers him a chance to prove that he is in fact a clever and inventive young man. Unfortunately, more challenges are awaiting Hodja. Emerald is caught and sentenced to decapitation instead of Hodja. Against all odds, Hodja now gets unexpected help from the clever and agile carpet and together they manage to fool The Rat, out-fly the sultan and escape his soldiers.

Eventually Hodja and Raya return home with an unexpected bonus.

With the support of the Creative Europe Programme - MEDIA of the European Union.