Through the lens of 2018, it can be difficult to imagine an America without smartphones and social media, much less a nation without air travel. David Heinz's new film American Folk takes us back nearly 17 years to a moment when all of that was the case.

In American Folk, we meet a pair of travelers, Elliott and Joni, played by musicians Joe Purdy and Amber Rubarth, respectively. They're two strangers who find themselves thrust together at Los Angeles International Airport in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001. Because planes are grounded, Elliott and Joni must travel from California to New York in a rather decrepit former touring van belonging to Joni's aunt Scottie (Krisha Fairchild), who encourages their cross-country road trip.

Shortly into their journey, Joni and Elliott bond over their mutual love of music, particularly folk songs and Americana. As they travel, the pair encounter many strangers and, generally speaking, are met with the kindness, respect and generosity. Music provides the connective tissue throughout the narrative of the film, while also providing the connective tissue among the characters. At one point in their journey, Elliott and Joni meet a kindly eccentric who emotionally extols "the power of music." It's the thesis of the film neatly wrapped in a concise line by one of the film's memorable characters.

Although the action takes place in 2001, American Folk doesn't openly acknowledge the pop-culture phenomenon sparked by the Cohn Brothers' film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which set off a renewed interest in American roots music in the early 2000s, but it does show an America that is open and receptive to the acoustic sound. Accompanying the folk songs is an original score penned by Athens, Ga., based composer and arranger Ben Lovett — not to be confused with Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons — and recorded in Asheville, N.C.

American Folk is David Heinz's first feature film. Along with director of photography Devin Whetstone, Heinz captures the expansive beauty of the United States, showcasing the topographical variety of wide-open spaces, arid dunes and verdant landscapes Joni and Elliott encounter as they traverse 14 states, impressively shot on location. Echoing Barry Levinson's Rain Man, American Folk employs a story device that forces the characters to travel via smaller, two-lane roads rather than on interstate highways, introducing them to the backroads and small towns of America as they're making their trip. The music and the bright-yellow camper van also evoke comparisons to James Marcus Haney's 2014 documentary Austin to Boston, featuring the Staves and Nathaniel Rateliff, among others. Heinz even seems to tip his hat to John Ford's screen adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, most notably in a scene where Joni and Elliott find themselves staying overnight in a tourist camp.

In the press notes for the film, Heinz says he wants American Folk to depict the way people connected in the days following 9/11; that said, there's a tense scene involving a same-sex couple in which one of the couple comes out to her family, not all of whom are supportive, to say the least. The moment provides an interesting juxtaposition: In the face of America being attacked from without, it occurs — to borrow a lyric from Billy Bragg — above the sound of ideologies clashing. Although we see an America of Polaroids, payphones and ostensibly more unity than exists today, Heinz doesn't shy away from pulling back the curtain on those things that cause division.

But that's not the main message of American Folk. By primarily showcasing the love and connectivity that can exist when people open their hearts in compassion and open their voices in song, American Folk offers a message of hope that transcends any era.

Naturally, the music is very strong throughout American Folk, and a soundtrack to the film releases Friday, Jan. 26, on Thirty Tigers. Largely performed by Purdy and Rubarth, many of the soundtrack's songs come from the American folk canon: "Red River Valley," "Oh! Susanna," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and "O Shenandoah," as well as originals by Rubarth and by Purdy. Also featured in the soundtrack is John Prine's 2005 song, "Some Humans Ain't Human," and Rubarth and Purdy's cover of the Carter Family's "Hello Stranger." A 12-date (so far) music tour in support of the soundtrack launches Thursday, Jan. 25, in Los Angeles.

American Folk is rated PG for some instances of coarse language. It screens this Friday, Jan. 26, in 11 cities nationwide, including at the Emagine White Bear, located roughly 14 miles north of St. Paul, Minn., in White Bear Township.

Resources

American Folk - official site

Emagine White Bear, White Bear Township, Minn.

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