Darwin is a documentary film about an isolated community at the end of a weathered road in Death Valley, California. Propelled from society by tragic turns, the people of Darwin (population 35) must now find ways to coexist in a place without a government, a church, jobs, or children. The near-ghost town's survival depends on a fragile, gravity-fed waterline that descends from the mountains where top secret weapons are being tested. One "accidental" drop of a bomb, they half-joke, could wipe out their entire town.

Monty - The salty old miner mysteriously bound to Darwin since the 1950's. With the help of his firecracker wife, Nancy, he emerges from a violent history to find the artist within.

Susan - The postmaster. Her hippie idealism and fierce humor are shaken by a tragic estrangement that unexpectedly bonds her with other Darwin residents.

Ryal - The transgendering 20-something for whom "nothing out here for us" is both the attraction and the curse for him and his partner, Penny.

Hank and Connie - Turning their backs on troubled pasts, they embrace Darwin’s peace and quiet, find a new religion and spread the word that Darwin is "just an everyday town now."

Together with their fellow outsiders, they tell the story of a uniquely American place and yet a place that is unique even within America.

Darwin at SBIFF - Gallery

Darwin | Trailer