Emily Kaye Allen’s Cisco Kid follows Eileen (they/them)–a young queer dreamer who moves to a desert ghost town in Southern Utah, determined to live an independent and untethered life.  Originally a pit-stop for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and then for drivers traversing a former thoroughfare, Cisco was all but abandoned after the construction of an interstate highway. Almost half a century later, Eileen feels called by the town.

We get to know Eileen through objects and anecdotes: the memorabilia they collect; the music they play; a voicemail they leave for their mother. They spend days building a wall made of tires and barbed wire. Seasons pass and progress feels hard won. Set against the startling tableau of the vast Utah desert, Cisco Kid is a portrait of a singular spirit who defiantly walks away from mainstream society and resurrects a place that has been left behind by a changing world.

Emily Kaye Allen is the documentary’s director, cinematographer, and editor. Allen is a photographer and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work explores the connection of characters and story to environment and place. She works as a freelance camera person and teaches video production. Cisco Kid is her debut feature film.

Cisco Kid will be shown at Roxie Theater House 2 Sunday, June 4 at 9 p.m. and available for online streaming June 1 – June 11.  For tickets and more information go to:  https://sfdocfest2023.eventive.org/films/63ef9e2fe2fa12008cfbbd71