“In the spring of 2008, two girls bought a motorcycle. By August, they were on their way across the country. With no film experience and a borrowed video camera, they decided to document their journey. This is their story.”
Those words flash over the first images in “Las Murcielagas,” a half-hour film by two local filmmakers, Lindsay Saunders, 26, and Rachel Manchester, 21. The documentary follows their trek from Tulsa to Maine.
Living Arts of Tulsa will present the film at 8 p.m. Saturday, at Living ArtSpace, 308 S. Kenosha Ave. Admission is $5.
In advance of the screening, Saunders took time out to explain her friendship with Manchester and the film, which is mostly shot from the motorcycle and includes a soundtrack featuring music by Tulsan outfits, including Daniel Sutliff, Clay Welch, Barf Makeout and Poot-poot.
What does the film title mean?
Las Murcielagas means “the bats”, specifically “the female bats.” Our bike has a Spanish name as well. Her name is La Pajarita (the little bird).
Why does your friendship work so well?
We focus on ruling at life and don’t let minor conflicts get in the way of our fun.
How many days was the total journey to Maine and back again to Tulsa?
Approximately two months. We meandered a lot. It took us about a month to get to Maine. We weren’t in a hurry and camped a lot. If we liked a place, we’d stay there a few days. If it rained, we stayed there as well. We didn’t have any riding rain gear — just a tarp.
How would
you describe your film to someone who hasn’t seen it?
A quirky “Motorcycle Diaries” meets “The Blair Witch Project” in the best way possible considering we borrowed a video camera (from The Living Arts of Tulsa) one week before we left town and edited it on ancient software.
What do you hope people learn from your movie?
Money can’t buy everything. You are the one living your life, own your circumstances and take some chances. Example: You don’t need a fancy touring motorcycle and a huge budget to travel across the United States. Build a wooden luggage rack for $5 and go! Life rarely sets up perfect situations. Make time for the things you love, because no one else is going to do that for you!
What did you learn about yourself, or maybe America, during your trek?
I’ve traveled a lot and I am always, always, ALWAYS astounded at the generosity, kindness and enthusiasm of people. This trip, I really missed my dog. She was in good hands, but everyone knows she’s the reason I came home. Rachel knows the most because she had to listen to me talk about her for weeks.
Tell me about the importance of music in your film?
All of the music in the film was created by Tulsa musicians. The more ambient “pretty” tracks are from Clay Welch (guitarist of Callupsie, a local band.) The “Nintendo”-ish electronic sounding tracks are Daniel Sutliff, who goes by Daniels (and is the bassist in Calluspie.) The credits are Barf Make-out, a pop-punk band. The female fronted songs are my friend Julianna Beckert (ukulele, drum machine, vocals) and I (accordion) ... our name changes a lot. Rachel and I wanted to use local music that was self-recorded by the musicians because it fit our scrappy presentation and offered a human quality that is sometimes lacking in high quality productions.
What do you love about the film?
It makes people smile. (Hopefully enough to make up for the motion sickness! Hah!) It’s a goofy feel-good adventure film. No what-ifs or shoulda coulda wouldas involved. Most of life is not this easy so it’s a good 32 minute break!
