Director's Statement

I first read the short story “Kansas” by Stephen Dobyns in the summer of 2002.  Five years later, I was still thinking about those seven pages.  I tracked down the author, received permission to adapt the piece, and “Backroads” was born. 

The film has many differences than the short story, including the transportation of the setting from a Post-World War II era Kansas to modern Texas and the elimination of the perspective of the main character as an elderly man.  The center, however, remains in tact: a young man’s life is suddenly thrown into disarray when he hitches a ride from the wrong guy.  What struck me so powerfully, and I hope to make evident in the film, is how poignantly the young man’s journey reminds us that it is often the mystery of life, or what does not happen to us, that shapes our experience and understanding of the world much more profoundly than any concrete fact we might encounter.

I am extremely proud of “Backroads” and look forward to sharing it with audiences.