How I Got Lost is a 2009 American film that premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival

Newport Beach Film Festival

The Newport Beach Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Newport Beach, California, that showcases more than 350 films to more than 30,000 attendees annually....

, the St. Louis International Film Festival

St. Louis International Film Festival

The St. Louis International Film Festival is an annual film festival in St. Louis, Missouri, which has been running since 1992. The coordinating organization changed its name to "Cinema St. Louis" in 2003...

 and Austin Film Festival

Austin Film Festival

The Austin Film Festival was started in 1994 in Austin, Texas and is claimed to be "the first organization of its kind to focus on the writer’s unique creative contribution to the film and television industries"...

. It was written and directed by Joe Leonard, and stars Aaron Stanford

Aaron Stanford

Aaron Stanford is an American actor, best known for his role as Pyro in X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand films, and Doug Bukowski in the 2006 The Hills Have Eyes remake....

, Jacob Fishel, and Rosemarie DeWitt

Rosemarie DeWitt

Rosemarie DeWitt is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series Standoff, co-starring her now husband Ron Livingston, from 2006 through 2007, and played Charmaine Craine on Showtime's acclaimed original series, United States of Tara...

. The film was scored by Golden Globe award nominated musician Kaki King

Kaki King

Kaki King is an American guitarist and composer. King is known for her percussive and jazz-tinged melodies, energetic live shows, use of multiple tunings on acoustic and lap steel guitar, and her diverse range in different genres.In February 2006, Rolling Stone released a list of "The New Guitar...

. It was shot with the Red camera on location in the East Village, Manhattan

East Village, Manhattan

The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...

 and in Kirkwood, Missouri

Kirkwood, Missouri

Kirkwood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,540. Founded in 1853, the city is named for James Pugh Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad through that town. It was the first planned suburb located west...

. Unique in its bookending of two transformative events in New York City: the September 11, 2001 attacks

September 11, 2001 attacks

The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

 and Northeast Blackout of 2003

Northeast Blackout of 2003

The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada on Thursday, August 14, 2003, just before 4:10 p.m....

.

Plot

The story involves a young disillusioned banker (Aaron Stanford

Aaron Stanford

Aaron Stanford is an American actor, best known for his role as Pyro in X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand films, and Doug Bukowski in the 2006 The Hills Have Eyes remake....

) as seen through the eyes of his sportswriting best friend (Jacob Fishel), who has emotionally withdrawn since September 11, 2001 and the end of his post-9/11 relationship. When the two decide to leave town, the film becomes a road movie about the hidden gifts of getting lost.