All Phil Rios wanted to be was an artist. His life, however, took another direction. The story of Phil Rios, a Vietnam and Gulf War veteran, and his attempt to cope with the memory of an unspeakable US military operation conducted in the Kuwaiti desert during the first Gulf War.

Right Road Lost begins with a dreamlike image—the figure of Phil Rios descending a dark, heavily wooded hillside. In voiceover, we hear him reciting from Dante’s Inferno: “Midway on our life’s journey, I found myself in dark woods, the right road lost. To tell about those woods is hard—so tangled and rough and savage…”

Phil Rios was born in Sacramento, California into a Mexican-American family of eleven children. Unlike his father and brothers who served in the US military, Phil never wanted to be a soldier. Instead, he dreamed of becoming an artist. His life took another direction in 1970 when he was shipped to Vietnam.
After the Vietnam War, he joined the California National Guard as a part-time reservist. In 1991, his National Guard unit was federalized, and he found himself in the Persian Gulf.

At first, his mission in the Gulf seemed simple: “We were going to go in there, kick out an evil person, and restore democracy,” he says. The reality of the war was anything but simple. In the film, Phil recalls the events that led to a routine military operation that would forever change his life.

Right Road Lost combines evocative black and white 16mm footage with Phil’s personal color photographs from the first Persian Gulf War. The film paints a powerful portrait of a man living with the psychological demons of war.

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Right Road Lost directed by Victoria Gamburg USA, Documentary, 2001, 16mm, Color, Optical Stereo, 00:11:50 All Phil Rios wanted to be was an artist. His life, however, took another direction. The story of Phil Rios, a Vietnam and Gulf War veteran, and his attempt to cope with the memory of an unspeakable US milita... more info

This DVD has never been screened

Reviews and Other Info:

”…a moving, subtly directed film exploring the psychological legacy of guilt…a sensitive picture with strong political undertones.”
Britta Sjogren, Associate Professor of Cinema, San Francisco State University

”Right Road Lost successfully engages the viewer to participate in a journey into the relationship between ethics and politics, war and art.”
Jasmina Bojic, Founder and Festival Director, United Nations Association Film Festival

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