Rules of the Road tells the story of a love affair and its demise through one of the objects shared by the couple: an old beige station wagon with fake wood paneling.
A typical American family car for an atypical American family, it provides the women at first with all the familiar comforts. But when their relationship ends, the car becomes the property of one and the bane of the other’s existence. Even long after their separation, this tangible reminder of their life together—and thousands of its imitators—continues to prowl the streets of the city, haunting the woman who no longer holds the keys either to the car or the other woman’s heart.
Through spoken text, popular music, and images from the streets of New York, Rules of the Road takes a somewhat whimsical, somewhat caustic look at how our dreams of freedom, pleasure, security, and family are so often symbolized by the automobile.
“… the light, almost whimsical tone of the film should not blind us to the part of it that is irreducibly personal. Station wagons are everywhere; everybody’s got a sad love story. But only one filmmaker, to my knowledge, has Su Friedrich’s eye…With Rules of the Road, she creates a film like a perfect short story.”
—Stuart Klawans, The Nation
Rules of the Road (1993)
Directed, written, shot and edited by Su Friedrich
Funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation
31 minutes, 16mm, color
Awards:
Kino Award, Special Commendation: Melbourne International Film Festival
Certificate of Merit: Cork International Film Festival
Director’s Choice Award: Black Maria Film Festival
Honorable Mention: Queer Film Festival, Oregon
Selected Screenings:
New Directors/New Films, New York; London International Film Festival; Festival of World Cinema, Philadelphia; Automobility Film Festival, Zurich; Jerusalem Film Festival; Image/Nation Festival, Montreal; Cinemarosa Queer Film Series, Queens Museum, NY; Bangalore Queer Film Festival, India; Pink Screens Film Festival, Brussels; “Commitment: the Rockefeller Fellowships at 15”, MoMA, NY; “Automobility” Film Festival, Zurich, SW; New York Gay & Lesbian Film Festival; Jerusalem Film Festival; Feminale Festival, Germany; Virginia Festival of American Film; Women In the Director’s Chair Film & Video Festival, Chicago; “IMPAKT—Festival voor experimentele kunst”, The Netherlands; “Girrly Pictures”, Toronto; London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival; Society For Cinema Studies; Northwest Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Eugene; “Gays and Film: Get Reel” Festival, New York; Women’s Media Project, Austin; Lesbian & Gay Organization, Israel; Wellington International Film Festival, NZ; European Media Arts Festival, Osnabruck; Sydney International Film Festival; Melbourne International Film Festival; Frameline Film and Video Festival, San Francisco; Rencontres du Cinema Independant, France; E-flux, NY; Punto de Vista Film Festival, Pamplona, Spain; La Filmoteca de Galicia, Spain; La Filmoteca Valenciana, Spain; Filmoteca Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain; Cineteca, Madrid, Spain