Every day, amidst Mongolia’s mining boom, a relentless procession of coal trucks winds through the Gobi Desert, braving perilous roads to reach the Chinese border. Among these drivers is Maikhuu, a fearless woman navigating this male-dominated world of toxic air, crushing fatigue, and deadly accidents. A single mother, Maikhuu embraced the job to secure her children’s future, earning a salary four times the national average. Yet, as the long days stretch into years, she begins to question the cost. Her plight worsens when she discovers she’s pregnant—her life and unborn child at risk in a profession that knows no mercy. Through Maikhuu’s eyes, we meet others trapped on this unforgiving road, including Gray, a union leader battling for workers’ dignity. Together, they paint a portrait of resilience and despair in a nation now known as “Minegolia,” where livelihoods are both sustained and destroyed by the insatiable hunger for coal.
Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig (aka Hogo) is an independent director from Mongolia. His debut film Dream (2010) screened at the Cannes Short Film Corner and competed in the Short Shorts Film Festival. His next film, Abnormal (2011), on Mongolia’s pollution crisis, was selected for “Best 10” at the 48 GoGreen International ECO Filmmaking Competition. After participating in workshops at the Asian Film Academy, Berlinale Talents, and Talents Tokyo (2011-2012), Hogo made his first feature Yellow Colt (2013), which follows a family of horse herders in Mongolia’s rural steppes. Supported by the Asian Cinema Fund, it won the Best Screenplay and the Best Debut Film at the 2014 Mongolian Academy Awards, screening at the Busan, Fribourg, and Bengaluru International Film Festivals and in showcases in London, Moscow, and Copenhagen. Hogo was selected to the American Film Showcase program and Scottish Film Institute’s “Connecting Stories” mentorship. Colors of White Rock is his first feature documentary, expanding on the world first glimpsed in his short film Lady of the Gobi (2023), which won the British Documentary Grierson Award for Best Short Film.