When director and screenwriter Clint Bentley decided to adapt "Train Dreams" for the big screen, he hoped he could captivate audiences with the tale of an ordinary man living in extraordinary times – the early 20th century.
Now, that vision – starring Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones – is up for four Oscars, including the coveted best picture prize.
Bentley's gamble on the 2011 novella by Denis Johnson appears to have paid off.
"It's been overwhelming," the 41-year-old filmmaker told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"I wanted to give something to the audience with the film and take them on a journey. But you never know how it's going to be received."
"Train Dreams" tells the story of Robert Grainier (Edgerton), a reserved logger and railroad worker in Idaho and his wife Gladys (Jones), over the course of his entire life.
The Netflix film stands as both the story of the American Northwest's transition to the modern era and a beautiful meditation on love, friendship, grief, loss and hope.
"It's lovely that people are connected and seeing themselves in it," said Bentley. "The story is really beautiful."
"Train Dreams" was filmed in Washington state and has so far won several prizes during Hollywood's awards season, especially for cinematographer Adolpho Veloso.
"A lot of movies really helped me in my life. So it's amazing to be a small part of a movie that is doing that to other people," Veloso told AFP.
"I feel like that's the reason I wanted to do films in the first place, because movies were important for me, because I love movies," said the 36-year-old Brazilian.
"Train Dreams" won the top best feature prize at the Spirit Awards honoring independent films, as well as awards for Bentley and Veloso.
At the ceremony earlier this month in Santa Monica, Bentley reflected on the challenges and rewards of taking on such an ambitious project with a limited budget, including the construction of a period locomotive... from plywood.
"It was just a lot of steps along the way that all of us figured it out," explained Bentley, whose first Oscar nomination came last year for best adapted screenplay for "Sing Sing."
He told AFP he especially values the Spirit Awards because they offer important visibility to smaller films with scant resources, especially as they vie for Academy Awards with big studio projects.
"It really gives them a boost in a beautiful way," he said.
