Les Routes de l'impossible

In Chad, even the desert is experiencing flooding on an unprecedented scale. More than a million people are affected by rising waters. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of fields have disappeared, a tragedy in a country where a third of the population is food insecure. In the south, although rich in oil, each trip is an epic for the local populations who do not benefit from the benefits of black gold. Norbert and Souleymane exhaust themselves every week on a broken track to supply the surrounding markets. In the Salamat region, transporting people is a daily challenge. The raging waters have washed away parts of the road, and in places, the track is submerged for hundreds of meters.

The Central American country of Guatemala is going through a never-ending economic crisis. Urban or rural, all populations are affected and rely on their courage or the Mayan gods they worship. Anthony, 18, a taxi driver, transports his clients to the mountains aboard a tuk-tuk. Tomas, a shaman, and Eric, his disciple, go on a pilgrimage towards a Mayan city that is very difficult to access. Hugo goes shark hunting for the first time. Finally, Maria Rosa and her children live near a landfill, which they try to take advantage of to go to Mexico, the beginning of the American dream.

At -35°C and without shelter several dozen kilometers around, Mongolian drivers must face any challenge. Bataar'aa, whose 4x4 is falling apart, lights a fire under the engine to prevent it from freezing. In the absence of a road, he travels on icy rivers to supply the workers of the steppe. In the Gobi Desert, the tracks stretch for hundreds of kilometers. The country's economic "miracle" lies at the end of these: there lie the largest coal reserves in the world. For the drivers responsible for transporting “black gold”, the journey is endless. Baktu fights against the cold and the dust. His fear is to break down in the middle of the desert.

In Albania, men challenge precipices every day. Luan's truck no longer has brakes and cans filled with gasoline that clutter the passenger compartment are connected to the engine by a garden hose. System D is the rule in these mountains because the country is still struggling to recover from its past. Albania lived for 45 years under one of the harshest communist regimes in the world and Albanians were only allowed to own a private car from 1991. Many villages are only accessible by road. The other valleys are not better off. From the spectacular Koman Lake to the turquoise waters of the Kir River, the trails are still a challenge and the ghosts of "Kanun", a customary law, which authorizes blood vengeance, have not completely dissipated.

In Thailand, the Karen people are isolated in the mountains and make a modest living from growing rice and corn. Anuwat, one of them, has to travel to his field along mountain roads that have been ravaged by storms. In his 4x4, he has to take all the risks but can count on the solidarity of the locals. In Laos, Ham, like all the other farmers, has been badly affected by the ban on poppy cultivation. His old military truck could implode at any moment under the weight of the goods and passengers in its trailer.

With a sea of ​​sand as his only horizon, young Turki sometimes feels dizzy riding his old motorcycle. But with the tank he drags on the back of his cart, he absolutely must bring back water for his herd of dromedaries. In the Iraqi desert, the inhabitants have always had to adapt to an extreme climate and temperatures sometimes reaching 50 degrees. The great marshes of Mesopotamia have long been considered an oasis, but this vast delta of flooded land, long drained by Saddam Hussein's regime to allow his tanks to pass through, is today threatened by global warming. The "people of the reeds" nevertheless try to survive by navigating the heart of this strange labyrinth.

In Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls offers a breathtaking landscape, but their deep roar seems to echo the anger of a wounded people. For, behind the spectacular beauty of nature, hides an implacable reality. After 37 years of unchallenged rule, dictator Robert Mugabe has left a country bled dry. As for the roads, they tell, kilometer after kilometer, of the distress of an abandoned people. At the Bulawayo bus station, passengers jostle in chaos for a seat on chickenbuses, those overloaded minibuses with unpredictable routes. Driver Mutassa is not so lucky; broken down in the middle of the bush, he is alone facing the wild nature. Near Victoria Falls, others risk their lives in the rapids, reckless fishermen for whom survival is a race against death. Despite everything, Zimbabweans resist. With dignity, humor and unwavering energy.

A railway lost in the middle of the jungle, rails eaten away by humidity, and bridges creaking over the void... Using makeshift trains, Juce and his gang penetrate the Alto Tambo Valley every day to earn a living. The mountain may collapse, and derailments may multiply, but nothing can stop them. In a country in crisis, resourcefulness and courage are their only resources. At the foot of the Andes, on tracks clinging to the peaks, "rancheras" circulate: makeshift trucks that resemble buses and transport men, animals, and crops to market. In the east of the country, indigenous communities, like the Cofan, tirelessly roam rivers and forests to push gold prospectors and oil companies out of their territory. But the strategic location between Colombia and Peru has also attracted drug cartels, who are gradually imposing their rule.