Satimzhan Sanbayev is a Kazakh writer, film actor, and screenwriter. Born into the family of the prominent Kazakh teacher-educator Khamza Sanbayev, in 1967 he was invited to star in the film “The Road of a Thousand Miles.” During filming, he completed his first story, “White Aruana” (White Camel), which was published a year later in Prostor magazine.

White Aruana is fine representation of nature-human relations in Kazakh classic literature. Aruana is almost anthropomorphic: she transforms from an ugly teen camel into a beautiful female too proud to mate and too lonely to love.