Gobi Trucker's Life: Grit, Grit, and Changing Mongolia

Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig's documentary "Colors of White Rock" offers a compelling portrait of Maikhuu, a female trucker in Mongolia's Gobi Desert.

Maikhuu transports coal across the Chinese border, a linear route through immense, empty landscapes. Her life is spartan and solitary, marked by separation from her children who reside in Ulaanbaatar. Previously, she worked as a hairdresser and cab driver in the capital, struggling to earn enough to support her family.

The film spans six years, observing Maikhuu's professional and personal life. She stoically accepts her circumstances, dreaming of a united family in a developed country. Her resilience is tested in a patriarchal industry and a culture that scrutinizes working women.

Maikhuu's personal journey includes another pregnancy, the father of which is unidentified. This seismic personal development occurs alongside the gradual transformation and depletion of the White Rock settlement and its surroundings due to resource extraction.