BONUS: Bastards’ Road” Official Music Video for “Moses” by Luke James Shaffer (feat. Stan Drout and directed by Brian Morrison at end of interview
Interview by Paul Salfen
“Bastards’ Road,” is the winner of seven festivals in 2020, and will be released across all TVOD/Digital platforms & DVD throughout the North American continent beginning on May 11th, 2021 leading into Memorial Day, with an international expansion planned for later this year. “Bastards’ Road” tells the story of US Marine Combat Veteran Jon Hancock’s epic healing journey on foot across the United States.
Walking over 5,800 miles, Hancock confronts the demons that had overtaken his life. Visiting his fellow 2/4 Marines – a unit known as the The Magnificent Bastards – and families of their fallen along the way, Jon’s unique insight, humor and compassion illuminates a story much bigger than himself. “Bastards’ Road” builds a bridge between a marginalized Veteran community dealing with extraordinarily high suicide rates and a civilian population struggling to understand.
A 2019 Veteran Affairs report revealed that the Veteran suicide rate is 50% higher than it is for non-veterans. More than 60,000 Veterans killed themselves from 2008-2017. Those ages 18-34 represent the fastest growing suicide rate amongst Veterans, having increased 76% since 2005.
Jon Hancock’s advocacy has strengthened since after the walk with the formation of his non-profit organization, Bastards’ Road Project. He has been featured on national interviews on CNN, Cheddar, as well as across the country in the OC Register, Florida Today, and Baltimore Sun, among others. His remarkable honesty, insight and humor encourage strength to face down trauma and the self-loathing, depression and isolation that follows it.
Bastards’ Road’s powerful themes of hope and resilience have been widely embraced by the Veteran community and received exceptional support from within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as mental health organizations and military non-profits.
“Bastards’ Road” world-premiered at Santa Barbara International Film Festival to sold-out audiences and won Best Documentary. It also won the Documentary Audience Award at Slamdance Film Festival, Best Documentary Award at DeadCenter Film Festival, Best Documentary Award at Sunscreen Film Festival, Audience Award and Best Cinematography at Loudoun Arts Film Festival, Jury Award for Best Documentary at Naples International Film Festival, and Best Documentary Feature at Franklin International Independent Film Festival.
The “Bastards’ Road” filmmaking team is led by director/producer Brian Morrison, who also lensed and edited the film. Executive produced by Erin Kenway (the award-winning “The Prison Within”), written & co-produced by Mark Stafford, and co-produced by Nick Kovacic (“Brewmore”), the film features a haunting original score by Jeremy SH Griffith (“Dare Not Walk Alone”) and a transformational original soundtrack by Daniel Strauch, Michael Marx-Gibbons and Luke James Shaffer of Aliceanna Collective.
Where to follow the film and its journey:
Website: www.BastardsRoad.com
Facebook: @BastardsRoad
Instagram: @BastardsRoadMovie
