In the presence of the director Rainer Komers.

In the middle of nowhere at route 66 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the downside of the American Dream can be found. Neoliberal ideology has not yet arrived at the small town of Barstow. Instead, time seems to be standing still here. The town is cut off from the outside world through the endless vastness of Californian prairie. Dried up souls remember the past and tell about their unsuccessful dreams and next to the rustle of the freight trains rolling by, the poems of Stanley “Spoon” Jackson, who has been imprisoned for life, are audible. Once, his family had come here full of hope, but by now, not only his words are characterized by hopelessness.

The third part of The American West trilogy by Rainer Komers is a compley portrait of the landscapes of Mojave Desert and the local life. 

In Nome Road System (2004) and Milltown, Montana (2010), Rainer Komers had already been to the sparsely populated West of the USA. For Barstow, California, the director has been corresponding with Stanley Jackson since 2008. The result is a contemplative documentary and at the Duisburger Filmwoche, it received the main prize, which was donated by arte. Frankfurt-based production company strandfilm was involved in the film´s realisation.