The road, to most of us simply a path leading to a destination, but to many truck drivers the road itself is their destination, their goal and their home. To them the road is a cold-hearted mistress that dominates their lives. In this documentary three of these truck drivers are followed on that road as they passionately explain what drew them to truck driving and what is so extraordinary about their jobs. They talk openly and reflectively about the thoughts, hopes, dreams and aspirations that keep them going and help them position this demanding job into their lives. Through both humour and sorrow surprising sides and depths of these seemingly tough men with their apparent uncomplicated lives are disclosed.
At the age of 27 Fedor abandoned a successful IT career to study anthropology at the VU University in Amsterdam. Anthropology became the ideal field to explore not only his interest in culture, development and conflict, but also to combine these with his passion for filmmaking. Though his own university has no visual ethnography in its program, he spent a lot of time exploring this field on his own or with some likeminded students. With these students he also started to make short ethnographic documentaries and a full length ethnographic production titled “The Challenge.” This experience led up to “What Keeps Them Going”, his first solo production. He recently graduated and has taken on a research position at the municipality of Amsterdam, he does not intend to abandon documentary filmmaking as he intends to do projects on the side to continue developing both his skills and style.
Director and production: Fedor Ikelaar
Language of dialogues: Dutch
Language of subtitles: English
Lauching of movie:
Athens Ethnographic Film Festival
What should antropological films be like? How to come to terms with alternating view of the world and with stereotypes in us? In a 3-year span, this issue kept busy an execution team around Milan Durňak who went back to his home-village to capture life of Roma people together with their Ruthenian neighbours. Every stay in the Roma colony brought one episode of a film which captures everyday life, tries to describe problems which trouble them and constantly strive to jump over their own shadows. The spectator has a chance to encounter a story in a social-cummunity centre with a hard-working mayor and festivals in the village and think about the worries and merriments of one Roma colony.
Production: Centrum of apply anthropology and research, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
