Private Project

The Passenger

A haunted man pushes past grief, trauma, and the forces of nature to find healing on a surreal motorcycle journey.

  • Jeff Elstone
    Director
  • Jeff Elstone
    Writer
  • Brian Awitan
    Producer
  • Beth Miller
    Producer
  • Michael Barnett
    Producer
    House of Darkness, Giving Birth to a Butterfly, The Shades, Pay To Play, Stormy
  • Jeff Elstone
    Producer
  • Gentry Dayton
    Producer
  • Gentry Dayton
    Key Cast
    21 Days Under The Sky
  • Wil Thomas
    Key Cast
  • Stephanie Sasso
    Key Cast
    Gotham
  • Keith J Leman
    Director of Photography
    Dear Rodeo: The Cody Johnson Story, Jason Aldean: We Back, Breland Feat. Keith Urban: Throw It Back
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    western, surreal, art house, psychedelic, drama
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 27, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Blackmagic
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Orlando Film Festival 2023
    Orlando
    United States
    October 27, 2023
    East Coast Premiere
Director Biography - Jeff Elstone

Jeff’s journey as a director began in childhood creating no budget adventure films with neighborhood friends on his parents’ VHS camcorder. He attended Temple University’s Film and Media Arts program in Philadelphia and directed his first short, Mother Divine, at the age of 23. The film was shot at one of the city’s most enigmatic and iconic landmarks, and was scored by esteemed Israeli composer Ady Cohen. After graduating in 2003, Jeff relocated to NYC where he worked as an assistant for photographer/director Steven Klein and later developed a notable career of his own as an international fashion and portrait photographer. The Passenger represents a return to his primary passion for narrative storytelling that also integrates a refined and visceral style honed over years behind the camera.

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Director Statement

To say anything of 2020 would inevitably sound like an understatement.

In the midst of a worldwide shutdown with no end in sight, my longtime best friend Gentry Dayton and I, along with producer Brian Awitan, sought to make the most of this unprecedented pause, at a time when grief hung heavy in the ether. What began as a pandemic project rapidly expanded into a universal meditation on loss, despair, and transformation.

While many stories rooted in motorcycle culture have predictably tired macho themes, this film is a psycho-spiritual walkabout with a tour through haunted terrain into a cocoon leading to an unexpected rebirth. The Passenger invokes the foreign art house films of the 70s, while simultaneously celebrating the classic Americana of Easy Rider that highlights the raw, fragile texture of mental health with a marked gritty spirituality, where the essence of friendship is defined and nature is personified as both a merciless and healing force.

The film also features an original score by legendary underground artist Jarboe and her creative partner Kris Force, whose previous work on 'The Path' garnered a "Best Composition" Award at the Bilbao International Game Awards. Thor Harris, a member of Swans, also contributed his eminent talents to the soundtrack and, curiously, I have a Swans tattoo on my left arm - which makes for a truly synchronistic moment in time.