Impossible Roads

For Bassunga and his men, the tree-lined road is full of obstacles. Each day, at the wheel of his old van, him and his co-workers take on the forest. Without any safety protection, they cut down around twenty trees every few minutes for meagre wages. This activity is completely illegal in Mozambique but brings happiness to the traffickers who then send the wood to China where the demand is huge. For the travelers however, the roads of Mozambique quickly transform into hell.

In Kazakhstan, a country in Central Asia located between China and Russia, everything is tough: the climate, the vast steppes dotted with oil wells, even the character of the inhabitants, descendants of the Mongols and Genghis Khan who have adapted to withstand all of nature’s challenges. Filmed at the backend of winter, this film takes us into the centre of a snowstorm. Thousands of travellers find themselves caught in an enormous traffic jam, the least fortunate of whom are stuck in the mud, victims of a sudden thaw. We meet farmers and camel breeders who rely on hostile land. The Aral Sea, now completely dried out due to the overexploitation of it’s water during the Soviet period, has given place to a dessert made up of sand, salt, and dust that’s toxic to the inhabitants. On this truly extreme journey we are accompanied by endearing people who never let their struggles crush their spirit or dignity.

Australia is the second most developed country in the world; especially in the south and west, whilst the rest of the country remains wild and untamed, presenting two very different ways of life – that of the English who arrived in the 19th century in the hopes of expanding their colonies further and further afield, and that of the Aborigines, the first inhabitants of this island-continent. To connect these two worlds, giant trucks, called road trains, relentlessly tackle the most remote roads and tracks on the continent. Since the 1930s, generations of daring drivers have taken to the wheel of these beasts, taking them at full-speed across the Outback’s rugged terrain. These ancestral lands, the Gibson Desert and the unspoilt Arnhem Coast are paradise preserved in a modern world. It is there that members of the Yolngu tribe have kept their cultures and customs alive for more than 50,000 years.

In the far north of Pakistan, on the borders of China and Afghanistan, the Hunza valley clings to the foothills of the Himalayas. During the winter the villages above 3500 metres in altitude, are cut off from the rest of the world. Only a few precipitous tracks cut through the schist of the mountain. These tracks are the only food supply routes for the villages of Shimshal or Chipoorson. Raymond and Mohammad are among the very few drivers daring enough to venture on these roads covered with snow and black ice. The slightest slip and their vehicle, 4×4 or minibus, will drop 800m off the cliff. A few kilometres from the Chinese border, nestled in the hollow of the Hunza mountains, the Wakhi villages perpetuate their ancestral traditions, such as that of the Buzkashi, a fierce game where acrobatic horse-riders fight over the carcass of a goat.

It’s very difficult to locate East Timor on a world map. Wedged between Bali and Australia, this small island tries to escape from its isolation to stay connected to the outside world but resources are virtually nonexistent. Only farming and fishing allows the inhabitants to earn a few dollars per month. Nowadays, the island is split in half, with one part being Indonesian and the other Timor Leste, which has been independent since 2002. In the most remote villages, the residents are cut off from everything. The only option is a rocky track.

Located in East Africa, between Kenya to the north and Mozambique to the south, Tanzania is separated to the west from the Democratic Republic of Congo by the longest freshwater lake in the world, Tanganyika . A natural gem as there are few on the planet.

Humaita is a tiny town in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, with one single inhabitant per kilometre squared and no fewer than 6 bus companies. The most famous one is “Siquiera”, a business managed by Luis and his son, Léandro. They are the only ones who dare to venture out onto the highway 319, the worst road in Brazil. They have been on a mission, ever since the other companies gave up due to the difficulties of the journey. The road is sinking in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, yet nothing can stand in the way of these superhuman diehards.

The island of Mindanao to the South of the Philippines has not yet fully joined the modern world. In the province of Bukidnon, the rice harvest still dictates the rhythm of life. With every harvest, the farmers of the small village of Kalabugao, located in the middle of the mountains, entrust their precious goods to the drivers and the brokers in charge of selling them to the market. Overloaded lorries travel 70 kilometers. The journey usually takes around six hours, but during rainy season it can take as much as several days.