Filmmaker Kaleo La Belle and childhood friend Sufjan Stevens last collaborated in 2006 on Crooked River, a documentary about Sufjan and his brother Marzuki taking a road trip to their home state of Michigan. Now the pair have teamed up once again, though this time for an autobiographical look at an important figure from La Belle’s past.
The film, Beyond This Place, is a documentary about La Belle reconnecting with his absent father, Cloud Rock, after the pair spent roughly 30 years apart. Cloud Rock La Belle, who describes himself as “stoned for 40 years,” is not only a lifelong hippie, but an avid cyclist. After receiving a bizarre postcard from his father (see trailer), Kaleo agrees to join Cloud Rock for a bicycle tour through the Pacific Northwest (with video camera in tow, of course).
Sufjan Stevens and Castanets mastermind Raymond Byron Magic Raposa provide the soundtrack to the film, which includes a re-recorded version of Sufjan’s “In the Devil’s Territory” from Seven Swans, Raposa’s titular track, “Beyond This Place,” for the closing credits, and “perfect music to accompany the various moods of the film,” collectively.
Check out the trailer below: