Ghosts and Gravel Roads
Mike Rollo, 2008, HD, 16’, Montreal, Canada
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.
Mike Rollo is a filmmaker and photographer living in Montreal. A founding member of the Double Negative Collective, his films have screened internationally. In 1999, Mike received his BFA in Film Production from the University of Regina and in 2004 he received his MFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University where he teaches film production. Ghosts and Gravel Roads, is part of an ongoing study of the Canadian prairie landscape.