The Lonely Road is a film written, directed and produced by Janelle Watson Evans; the story of a young deaf girl who takes a road trip with a stranger in order to reconnect with the past and find hope for the future.

“The Lonely Road is inspired by American artist Cindy Sherman’s ‘Untitled Film Still’ 1979 which depicts a young girl waiting alone on a deserted country road at dusk.

The motivation for making this film was to explore the idea of what it would be like for a young girl with a hearing loss to find herself alone without an ability to hear and without the people she loves to guide her.

Inspired by my daughter’s experience of severe deafness and her sole reliance on the use of high powered digital hearing aids to listen and speak, I wondered what it would be like to NOT have access to modern digital hearing aids and be thrust into a world of silence.

I was also very interested in making a film about deafness which did NOT include sign language as part of the deaf narrative. By way of example, my daughter Della Rosa Evans who plays the part of The Girl, does not know or use sign language as a form of communication.

In telling this story, I wanted to explore the themes of loss, memory, mother/daughter bond, intergenerational female connection, alienation and vulnerability.

The use of minimal dialogue and the ‘Show Don’t Tell’ philosophy of cinematic storytelling perfectly conveys The Girl’s loneliness and uncertainty.

Additionally the road trip with a stranger reinforces The Girl’s vulnerability and the final destination of Surfers Paradise as a sort of ‘Emerald City’, is a metaphor for hope and new beginnings.

The Lonely Road is dedicated to my daughter Della on whom this story is based, and to the deaf children of previous generations who could not be part of the hearing world.” – Janelle

CREDITS