Women Behind The Wheel

Hannah Congdon and Cat Haigh bring sweet-natured upbeat energy to this road trip documentary. The friends took on the 1900-mile Pamir Highway, which cuts across Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, with the aim of talking to as many women as they could en route.

Television schedules seem to be crammed with middle-aged men taking train journeys or motorcycle rides, so the first thing that’s notable about Women Behind The Wheel is that it brings with it the freshness of a much younger demographic in addition to its female perspective. If there’s a certain naivety that accompanies that then, for the most part, it serves the pair well, as they have an openness and an eagerness to learn that their various interviewees seem to respond to in kind.

Haigh and Congdon also have a youthful spontaneity that helps them along their trip. There’s not a lot of geographical or historical context offered up but the film does give a sense of the sheer diversity of the countries they are travelling to. Among those they meet are women who have started their own small business, a taekwondo champ and others who talk about everything from domestic abuse to bride kidnapping.

A picture of resilience and ingenuity is painted as women in even the remotest spots are seen to be taking charge of their lives even in the most conservative of situations. In some places they are also seen to be doing this largely alone, as the men of these former Soviet states are forced to spend large chunks of time as migrant labour in Russia due to the lack of opportunities at home. While these encounters are brief, they stretch from bee-keeping to gynaecology and are chiefly a celebration of sisterly solidarity even in tough circumstances.

Between the interviews, we see the various minor glitches Congdon and Haigh encounter along the way, although these thankfully never amount to much more than mild peril. The friends also deserve a credit for shooting the whole thing themselves, they have a good eye for a strong image and the rough around the edges feel adds to the film's general vibe of authenticity. While a little bit less of them and a bit more of the women they meet would be welcome this is nevertheless an engaging and informative journey that is enhanced by the presence of two women with a thirst for knowledge and adventure who aren’t afraid to admit what they don’t know.