Ghosts and Gravel Roads

An inventory of lost memories and places, the sun bleached landscape of Saskatchewan serves as a metaphor for displacement, a framing of emptiness and absence. Traveling to forgotten towns and channeled through old family photographs the camera catalogues the haunting remnants of the past, frail monuments and communities laid bare, broken under economic collapse. Under the weight of the prairie skies a visceral, personal encounter is revealed in the solace of open space. Awards: Silver Medal for Best Documentary, Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films, 2008; one of the Top Ten Canadian Short Films of 2008 by the Toronto International Film Festival Group “Exploring once-settled but now-abandoned areas of the prairies, Mike Rollo uses his keen eye for composition to infuse himself into the ghost towns and vast isolation of southwestern Saskatchewan. With no sign of human existence in sight, except for shadows, relics and photographic remains, Rollo reminds us of the fragility of our communities and how easily these places are forgotten. This is a mesmerizing and reflective ode to a lost era.” – Alex Rogalski, Toronto International Film Festival