This brilliantly costumed period-film covers the time of the Persian philosopher Avicenna (980-1037) who lived in Bukhara in Uzbekistan (on the northern border of Pakistan). Bukhara was along trade routes that brought people from many cultures and beliefs through the city. Avicenna`s youth -- the focus of this film -- was spent in contact with a variety of cultures, stimulating his interest in philosophy and perhaps also in medicine. Avicenna became an admired physician and is famous for his Canon of Medicine, a text that would be used for the next 600 years in Europe.