Sisters film premieres at Bend Film Fest

"The Far Green Country," a documentary created by Sisters natives Eli and Kelly Pyke, will premiere at the upcoming Bend Film Festival on October 13 at 1 p.m. at the Regal Old Mill-1.

A personal on-the-road film that follows the Pykes as they "weigh anchor" on life as normal and, with their three-year old son, Dakota, live full-time on the road traveling deep into the untamed wild of America, "The Far Green Country" is a story of their journey from hope lost to hope restored.

It was a film they never intended to make, and it was born out of a troubled time.

"We had so much hope surrounding the birth of our son," Kelly said, "but when time came, nothing about his delivery went smoothly. I was in labor for 56 hours before the doctor had to use a vacuum suction to get him out. Then surgery. All of it traumatic and hugely disappointing. For the next 12 months, besides being new parents struggling to figure out how to be parents, I continued to be emotionally and physically traumatized by what had happened during Dakota's birth. I had a lot depression. PTSD. Night terrors. It was awful."

The year of difficulty turned into two when Dakota developed a cyclical vomiting syndrome.

"Each episode consisted of him vomiting himself into a comatose state," Kelly recalled. "For so long, no one could figure out what was going on."

The stress of those 24 months took a heavy toll their marriage.

"When you are squeezed so tightly," Kelly said, "when you are angry, exhausted and stressed to your breaking point, things come out. You say things. He said things. You end up wondering, 'Who is this person? Who am I?' Thankfully, both Eli and I came to realize that if we didn't make a dramatic and intentional change to pursue restoration, things would continue to get worse."

"Through the difficulties Kelly and I were going through," Eli added, "we realized that we needed to reconnect with each other in ways that we did when we first met. For us, that meant being outdoors. Mountains. Rivers. Wide-open spaces. It also meant being intentional about our priorities and putting our marriage first above all else, disconnecting from social media, from long work hours and social obligations."

Given Eli's work as a cinematographer, something that often took him out of state, the question boiled down to how he, Kelly and three-year old son were going to make this kind of significant shift.

"The solution we found was to bring our house with us. Although we had never been motor-home type of people, now with a child and needing to have an office, one filled with camera equipment, the idea of backpacking or living out of our car was out. For us, our decision-making could not be some footloose, fancy free, 'let's go for it' sort of deal. We had a child. A marriage. A business. We had to figure it out how we could continue to keep all that going forward while being on the road."

The answer came in the form of a well-used $15,000 Bounder. After packing up their home in Tollgate, the Pykes took off.

"The day we headed out our driveway," Eli remembered, "there was that moment when we looked at one another and said, 'What are we doing?!'"

What followed was a 10,000-mile journey through fifteen national parks. Days filled with cramped quarters, multiple breakdowns and a few grizzly bear encounters.

It was Eli who first thought of recording their journey.

"I knew I needed to capture the moments and the stories, if only to share with Dakota when he got older. For me, being a visual storyteller, it was the way I journaled life. I would set up a camera, put on a microphone and shoot. Kelly, though, was completely the opposite. It wasn't until the editing process that she agreed to do an interview on camera."

"The Far Green Country" is the result of those many miles and life-restoring experiences.

"Of all the aspects in this film, including our marriage challenges," Eli said, "for Kelly and me, this is a film about hope. Whether it is about having another child or the dream that you dream is still possible, it is hope is what will enable you to overcome suffering and move forward."

"Out there in the wild," Kelly added, "you come to realize that we are all very small in the scheme of things. In our often-hurried life, it is so easy to get stuck in our little box and pit of despair where problems become like giants. Getting out into the wilderness gave Eli and I the perspective we needed. We saw that the challenges we had, the things that seemed like giants, although significant, could still be overcome. Under star-lit skies, we knew that we were going to be OK."

For more information and to order tickets, visit https://bendfilm2018.eventive.org. For more on the film and to view a trailer, visit www.thefargreencountry.com.