Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig

The touching story of a pre-teen who rejoins his nomadic family after the death of the uncle who adopted and raised him. At first he is sad and frightened, but he gradually grows closer to his father in the run up to a horse race.

On Mongolia’s coal highway to the Chinese border, truck driver Maikhuu dreams of a better life and financial security for her three children. However, the road from the mines to China is riddled with accidents, toxic pollution, poor hygiene and now, amid the Covid crisis, drivers face days of quarantine on the border. Trapped in a hazardous industry, Maikhuu's journey reflects the human and environmental costs of Mongolia’s mining boom.

Ever since its shift toward liberalism after the Cold War, Mongolia has opened up its mines in the Gobi desert for exploitation — resulting in an onslaught of truck convoys transporting Mongolian coal to China. Within this arduous, predominantly-male line of work, Maikhuu — a former taxi driver and hairdresser — stands alone as one of the only female truck drivers working the mining boom. A single mother, Maikhuu resorts to looking after her young children’s financial future and well-being by working extensive seasons along the unforgiving Gobi desert, all while her sister cares for her young children back home. As an outspoken and resilient driver, Maikhuu contends not just with severe droughts impacting the desert landscape, but also deadly accidents among the truck drivers as well as incessant competition from her dominating male peers. Throughout it all, Maikhuu exerts a tenacity in her arduous work and outlook on life.