Lost Forever EVERETT RUESS In January 1931 Everett Ruess, a young Los Angeles artist, left his comfortable home, hitchhiked to Arizona and walked into the wild desert canyons, alone. Ruess planned to paint a collection of pictures for exhibition. Three years later, he no longer cared about fame. In a final letter home Ruess wrote: "As to when I will revisit civilization, ... more »it will not be soon, I think...I prefer the deep peace of the wilderness to the discontent bred by cities." Ruess scratched the name NEMO (no one) on a high cliff, led his burros into a deep crack in the earth called Davis Gulch and vanished.
Lost Forever EVERETT RUESS probes the mysterious life and disappearance of this American folk hero.
Reviews:
"... a striking venture into the mix of memory, fiction and nonfiction.... we want to know more about this young dreamer given to purple language like, "The world is a riot of intense sensual delight...."
indieWIRE
"Orr uses a rich variety of archival photographs and footage, interviews and dramatizations, linking the film together with a poetic narrative drawn from Ruess' journals and letters. Filmed on location in southern Utah and northeastern Arizona, offering both mystery and an appreciation of nature's incredible wealth, this is an unforgetable exploration of the wilderness, both inside of us and out."
TAOS TALKING PICTURE FESTIVAL
"Lost Forever EVERETT RUESS is a gloriously bold and ingenious capturing of much that is known of the life and death of Ruess, meandering between rumor and reportage, drama and documentation, as sinuously as the canyons that drew him into their fold."
MOUNTAINFILM 2000
"Orr is brillant. She weaves a dramatic narrative that completely seduces the viewer into mystery. Mark Larson superbly captures the spirited longing and intense passion of this counter-culture hero."