Lonely Road is a queer coming of age slice of life story following a young hitchhiker with nothing but a backpack and a postcard to their name. When they’re dropped in a small town with no way out, a smoke stack of a stranger offers them a ride.
The film takes place In Hallettsville, Texas; a tiny town in between Houston and Austin that my grandfather called home til the end of his life in 2018. The longhorns he left behind graced our set with their flapping tails and intimidating horns, often standing right outside the barn we shot our green screen scenes. I’m grateful to the community for being so hospitable to us, and for loving my grandfather.
The film is inspired by my own coming out process and the people who, without fully knowing or comprehending, showed me who I am in the most vulnerable and tender ways. I spent a lot of time hitchhiking in my early twenties, and I’ve got plenty of stories. People can be awful, certainly, but they can also be incredible. There’s nothing like giving yourself over to chance - opening that door with no idea who you’ll meet on the other side of it.
Lonely Road has been recognized at several prestigious festivals such as the Reeling Chicago International Film Festival (2024), Seattle LGBTQ Film Festival (2024), Exposures Montreal Trans Film Festival (2024), Berlin Indie Film Festival (2023), New Orleans Film Festival (2022), and the SF Transgender Film Festival (2022).
