Eddy L. Harris is the author of the lauded travel book “Mississippi Solo” (1988), which chronicled his canoe trip down the length of the Mississippi River, from its headwaters in Minnesota to its terminus in the Gulf of Mexico. In “River to the Heart,” Harris retraces that journey as a 60-year-old, and the film explores what he discovered about both the country that was and the country that is.

Khuyagaa is 10 years old and a good rider. He is a nomad, travelling with his parents, grandparents and siblings through the Gobi Desert in Mongolia all summer long. They have to look after the animals every day. Khuyagaa helps diligently when the herd of horses has to be brought in from the pasture or the goats have to be milked. At the end of the summer, school starts again for Khuyagaa. He only has time for his horse in the afternoon. Together with his friends, he goes for a ride through the village and looks forward to the weekend. Because then he can ride out into the vastness of the steppe at a wild gallop again.