Ashes

By Julian Croman

Captain Laszlo sits behind the wheel of his late father’s beloved RV driving down the road somewhere outside of Laramie, Wyoming.

In April 2019, film-maker Branson Laszlo lost his father, Winston Laszlo, to brain cancer. Laszlo had spent most of his father’s last year by his side in hospice, documenting the precious and final moments the two had together.

Before his father’s passing, Laszlo, a Harvard postgraduate fellow whose work lies at the crossroads of avant-garde and documentary, decided to create a film tribute to his father. He prepared to assemble a narrative across time, featuring moments recorded throughout his father’s life and his own life, as well as Laszlo’s ruminations of what lies ahead. When his father died, Laszlo inherited a 27-foot, 1989 Fleetwood Bounder Motorhome which had been his father’s home in Denver, Colorado. Laszlo decided to take the Bounder on one final journey before parting with it and invited me to come along as his yeoman. Yes, yeoman Croman.

Laszlo’s mission was to lay his father to rest by spreading Winston’s ashes in familiar, cherished landscapes between Denver and Laszlo’s hometown of Wheeler, Oregon. The journey was one of adventure, reflection, and profound grief.

In a trial of perseverance, Laszlo overcame the Bounder’s numerous mechanical failures, moments of overwhelming heartache, and the weight of his uncertain future. These images encapsulate his struggle, emotion, and triumph on his journey to return his father and his beloved RV back home.

The journey was one of adventure, reflection, and profound grief.

Captain Laszlo studies the desolate landscape as the Bounder approaches Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho. This was Winston’s favorite stop on the route.

Laszlo observes his fellow campers in Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho, while eating one of what he calls his ‘famous’ homemade breakfast sandwiches.

The Ship’s Log from Laszlo’s 2017 documentary film about his and his father’s expedition east to Colorado from Oregon, to settle Winston’s new mobile home in Denver.

Laszlo lines up a shot out of the RV front window in preparation for the Bounder’s departure from Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The Bounder sits under the cover of a Circle K gas station after refusing to start. Fuel pump #1 was our home for the night.

The captain inspects a troubling leak coming from the Bounder’s water heater. We were stranded in Idaho Falls for two additional nights until the leak was fixed.

Laszlo says a temporary goodbye to the Bounder as it is loaded onto a tow truck heading to a mechanic back in Denver.

Lazlo sits after packing what he can of his father's life in Denver. This was a difficult day.

Winston Laszlo sits unattended while his son, Branson, positions a shot with his Bolex camera.

Laszlo pauses to spread his father’s ashes in a familiar collapsed lava tunnel while hiking in Craters of the Moon National Monument.

Back in Oregon, Laszlo takes a moment to reflect on the journey and his return home after spending the previous year in Denver, with his father.

These images encapsulate his struggle, emotion, and success on his journey to return his father and his beloved RV back home.

Laszlo enters the Pacific Ocean to spread the final remains of his father in Manzanita, Oregon just ten minutes from his childhood home.