As Mongolia has been pulled further into the orbit of China’s economic might, it has transformed from an agrarian society into an increasingly industrialised and urban one. For Mongolians, new jobs, especially those at the intersection of energy and mining, can represent an opportunity to provide financial security and education for the next generation. But, as The Lady of the Gobi (2022) explores, it’s a bargain that comes with many tradeoffs.
In the film, the Mongolian filmmaker Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig takes viewers into the world of Maikhuu Sengee, a Mongolian woman who’s taken on a hardscrabble life on the ‘coal highway’ to China through the sprawling Gobi Desert. For Sengee, trying to provide a better life for her three children means leaving them with her sister in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar as she lives out of her coal truck. Far from home, she faces the many hazards, heartbreaks and boredoms of life on the road – difficulties that were exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although a portrait of a single life, Choijoovanchig’s panoramic depiction of coal transport across the Gobi alludes to the personal and environmental tolls of the region’s recent economic transformation.
Director: Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig
Producers: Tessa Louise-Salomé, Chantal Perrin
Website: Guardian Documentaries
video
Social psychology
What happened when a crypto scam swept over a sleepy town in the Caucasus
18 minutes
video
Gender
A catchy tune explains the world’s ‘isms’ – according to your mum doing the laundry
5 minutes
video
Human rights and justice
Surreal, dazzling visuals form an Iranian expat’s tribute to defiance back home
10 minutes
video
History
Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches
13 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes
video
Technology and the self
The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy
14 minutes
video
Fairness and equality
There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa
10 minutes
video
Food and drink
The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner
14 minutes
video
Gender
A filmmaker responds to Lars von Trier’s call for a new muse with a unique application
16 minutes