2017 Red Rock Film Festival

 Point of No Return
Red Grid advanced screening • Documentary Full-length Feature
Genre: Documentary
2017 • USA • 92 min. • 1.85:1 • HDV
In English
DIR Noel Dockstader, Quinn Kanaly, PRO Quinn Kanaly, Noel Dockstader, Cast Bertrand Piccard, Andre Borschberg
Point of No Return chronicles one of the most suspenseful and pioneering scientific adventure stories of the 21st century, following two pilots in their attempt to circumnavigate the globe in an airplane fueled exclusively by sunlight. Their mission: to prove the potential of clean technology and to inspire hearts and minds. To achieve their goal, they must push themselves and their team of engineers and meteorologists far beyond their limits.  Thirteen years ago, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg began building what many experts said was impossible: a solar-powered airplane capable of flying day and night. With the wingspan of a 747 jet and the weight of a car Solar Impulse is extremely fragile; high winds or turbulence can snap the wings in two. But the 26,000-mile journey tests more than their technology. In an unheated, unpressurized cockpit, the 5-day solo flight across the Pacific Ocean becomes a feat of endurance unlike any other in aviation history.  Technical failures, unplanned landings, and stormy weather put the entire mission in jeopardy and drain the spirits of the team. To succeed, both Piccard, a psychiatrist and balloonist, and Borschberg, an engineer and jet fighter pilot, must set aside their differences, and go against the advice of their engineers. Their gripping story sheds light on what it takes to attempt something truly groundbreaking and is testament to the tenacity of the human spirit.
--
Still I Rise
Mountain West Premiere • Short-Shorts • Experimental
Genre: Experimental
2017 • USA • 4 min. • 
In English
DIR Gabriel Diamond, Patrick Nelson Barnes, Phil Collis,  Cast Narrated by Maya Angelou
A visual and musical interpretation of American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou’s electrifying poem “Still I Rise.” Juxtaposing Angelou’s timeless words with imagery of struggle and change from the past to the present, “Still I Rise” prompts us to ask ourselves: What side of the divide do you stand on? Where will you forge common ground?