AMERICAN INDIES

GASOLINE RAINBOW

2023 / 108 min / color

After graduating high school, five teenagers from a small town in Oregon embark on what may be their last teenage adventure. They realize that they’re becoming adults and they will soon have to make important decisions about their future. Before that happens, they decide to go on a trip together to the Pacific Coast, 500 miles away. The only plan is no plan at all, staying spontaneous and open-minded to anything that might happen along the way. During their trip, the young protagonists come across outsiders, loners, and individuals who have turned the initial intention of the trip — namely, the lack of a plan — into a lifestyle. The associated freedom, the opportunity to make their own decisions at all times, the break with the expected pattern of what their life should look like — it’s all incredibly tempting. The new film by American indie stalwarts the Ross Brothers combines elements of coming-of-age films and road movies. The filmmakers have said that they were inspired by Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969), one of the most iconic American stories about rebellion, the pursuit of freedom, and the desire to live life on your own terms.

• Valladolid IFF – Best Feature Film;
• Luxembourg FF – Audience Award