Real Screen April 2002
by Carl Mrozek

This is Nowhere is a 90 minute epic about a subculture of RV-ing Americans with a pronounced Wal-Mart fixation. Not only do they shop at Wal-Mart wherever they happen to travel, but they also socialize and park their recreation vehicles in its sprawling parking lots. Producer/Director Doug Hawes-Davis aims to shed light on urban sprawl while entertaining us with offbeat stories of the road told by unlikely road warriors - Wamartians - as he documents their lives, subculture and broader impacts in Missoula, Montana and around the U.S. This is Nowhere is full of irony and captures the American ambivalence toward nature, technology, adventure and security. It has travelog elements, while featuring travelers who hate to leave home.
The film is being shot on a shoestring budget that would be the envy of Wal-Mart shoppers - a mere US$40,000, thanks to the miracle of DVCAM. Hawes-Davis and co-director John Lilburn received backing from the Fund for Wild Nature, but still need about $20,000 to complete the project. This is Nowhere is slated to premiere on Montana Public Television and is a production of High Plains Films in Missoula.