HOT ROADS I
They run through deserts, ice and snow, deep in the jungle, along water and over mountains: the world’s most dangerous roads. Many risk their lives along these roads. Yet for lack of alternative routes, locals continue to use them for transportation. This series tells stories that take place along the routes, of the people who live along them and for whom these are part and parcel of their personal destiny. The filmmakers tag along in the driver’s seat of trucks, on the rear benches of busses and in the passenger seat of regular cars to experience the danger and beauty these roads offer from different perspectives – through the windshield and in the rear-view mirror simultaneously.
01. The Manali-Leh Highway
It is a road of mountain passes and India's access to the roof of the world, the Himalayas. This 475 kilometer route at the northernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent connects the cities of Manali and Leh in the Ladakh region.
02. The Nawabpur Road in Dhaka
In Bangladesh, a city with the highest density of population in the world, the daily struggle to survive is everywhere, including the streets. Traffic is brutal and reckless. In Bangladesh, you drive on the road with your life at risk.
03. The Adriatic Highway
The "Adriatic Highway" is one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the world. It was built in the 1950s and 60s, at the time of Yugoslavian President Tito. For many travelers, the highway is the absolute dream road.
04. The Hot Routes of Mali
The Harmattan, the hot desert wind of the Sahara, is blowing without respite. It has no pity for the people who live here. Whoever wants to go from one place to another has to travel on roads that hardly deserve the name.
05. The Long Road to Siberia
The roads at the Arctic Circle are covered in ice and snow for almost eight months out of the year. Conditions that would lead to a total collapse further south are routine for the experienced truckers of the High North.