ST. FRANCIS ? Audrey Kalivoda laughs off the ribbing she takes at home in Fairview, Tenn., for growing up in Kansas.

“Everybody in Tennessee makes fun of Kansas for being flat and boring,” she said.

But the professional photographer and videographer – reared in Brantford in southwestern Washington County – has visual proof that her home state is much more than a prairie pancake.

Last month, Kalivoda unveiled her independent film, “Kansas Canyon Lands,” at the Cheyenne County Museum in St. Francis.

The 20-minute film focuses on the Arikaree (uh-RIK-uh-ree) Breaks, an expanse of canyons 15 miles north of St. Francis in the northwest corner of Kansas. The canyons cover much of northern Cheyenne County on land owned by several farmers and ranchers.

“It’s cool. You’re driving down a dirt field and it drops into a canyon,” Kalivoda said.

Some of the canyons are 300 feet deep, said volunteer tour guide Tobe Zweygardt of St. Francis. The 90-year-old retired welder and farmer gives free tours of the Breaks.

But don’t expect a gift shop and many paved roads during the 75-mile, three-hour tour of the rugged landscape.

“If you want to get away from it all, it’s the place to go,” Kalivoda said. “I don’t like to go where the crowds are, and the Breaks appealed to me. It’s very pretty, untouched.”

The Breaks were formed when the area was an ocean bottom millions of years ago, Zweygardt said. Later, the Arikaree River flowed through a portion of the canyons.

This June 2005 photo shows the Arikaree Breaks near St. Francis. The Breaks, in northwest Kansas, were formed when the area was an ocean bottom millions of years ago. Audrey Kalivoda recently unveiled her independent film, Kansas

Kalivoda’s video covers the history of the canyons. It includes the scenery, wildlife and Zweygardt, who was reared near the Breaks and hiked, camped and fished in the canyons.

“He’s so neat, 90 years old with more energy than a lot of 20-year-olds I know. He’s an interesting and fun person to be around,” Kalivoda said.

People who inquire at the museum in St. Francis often are directed to Zweygardt, who has entertained busloads of tourists from as far as way as New York.

“It’s surprising. People don’t realize what we’ve got here. South and east (of the Breaks) it’s all level,” he said.

A photographer by trade, Kalivoda got into videos two years ago while visiting Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle. When she expressed a need for a video to capture the canyon’s beauty, a park ranger suggested she produce one.

She took the advice, and her film “has done well.” It’s for sale at 12 locations in Texas.

While visiting her parents, Ramona and Jim Kalivoda, in 2004 in Brantford, Kalivoda read about the Arikaree Breaks in a senior citizen newsletter. She decided to do a project.

“We’ve got a natural resource that nobody knows about. It seemed like a good place to do a video,” Kalivoda said.

She plans to market “Kansas Canyon Lands” at travel centers and tourist-related stores.