Chris Waddell was this year’s guest speaker at the opening night cocktail party for the DocUtah Best of Fest in Mesquite, Nev., held at the Eureka Casino on Monday, Oct 5. This is the third year Mesquite has hosted the best of the annual international documentary film festival DocUtah. The films continue throughout the week at two locations in Mesquite, with all proceeds benefiting Mesquite Reads, a summer reading program for elementary school children.
Chris Waddell was an excellent choice for guest speaker, and the other excellent choice was including “1 Revolution,” Waddell’s award-winning document about his journey as a 13-time paralympic medalist’s attempt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro unassisted. His message was simply, “No one can accomplish great things and overcome unimaginable obstacles without a team behind them.”
When asked why he ever even considered doing something like this Waddell said, “It’s about giving hope to those who have lost hope due to a serious handicap.” This is one film you’ve got to see. It does in fact give hope even to those of us who don’t have a handicap but do feel from time to time that it’s too difficult to achieve a task or goal.
Last year, Interstate 15 was closed due to flooding, so attendance to the DocUtah Best of Fest in Mesquite was down. This year, they’re expecting larger participation with two theaters involved: Redd Hills Cinema, located in 790 W. Pioneer Blvd., and Megaplex Theaters, located in 749 W. Mesquite Blvd.
Redd Hills will play films on Tuesday and Thursday from noon to 6 p.m., and Megaplex will show films from Wednesday and Thursday from 6 p.m. Click here for the event schedule.
Feature Films include “Flying the Feathered Edge,” “The Bog Hoover Project,” “American Cheerleader,” “Bounce: How the Ball Taught the World to Play,” “In Between Mountains and Oceans,” “Handmade in France with Love,” “Heart of Glass,” “Living with the Dead,” “Nefertiti’s Daughters,” “Once Upon a Crime,” “The Borrelli-Davis Conspiracy,” “The Man Who Saved Ben-Hur,” “Run Free: The True Story of Caballo Blanco,” “Right Footed,” “The Leopard in the Land,” “The Devil and the Angel,” “Tap World,” and “Bach in Madrid.”
Short films include “How to Catch a Tiger,” “Our Canyon Lands,” “The House is Innocent,” “Boccanegra with Pladico Domingo,” “Cast in India,” “Blockbusted,” “Plundering Tibet,” “Vision-Healing the Blind in Ethiopia,” and “Pie Lady of Pie Town.”
For information and show times go to EurekaCommunityInitiative.com.
A festival pass is available for $40, which includes all films, or a patron pass for $50, which includes all films and the wrap-up-party on Friday, Oct. 9, at the Eureka Casino. You can attend individual films for just $5 each. All proceeds go to benefit Mesquite Reads, a summer reading program for elementary school children.
