Written by Scott Dunford
The second year of DOCUTAH’S Best of Fest Mesquite Film Festival in Mesquite kicked off Tuesday night with a cocktail reception at the Redd Hills Cinema on Pioneer Boulevard. Hundreds of attendees filled two theaters to satisfy their curiosity about the enormous engineering feet to create what most of us have come to know as the “Little Grand Canyon” in the Virgin River Gorge. The documentary called “My Father’s Highway” is a wonderful portrayal of man’s determination to conquer nature and better serve humanity. It’s a must-see as a local Southern Utah/Mesquite resident who travels this stretch of road often to go to work, play golf, gamble, or take in the beauty of this great place we call home.
Sponsored by the Eureka Community Imitative in partnership with DOCUTAH, 12 feature documentaries, along with six short films, will be shown beginning Wednesday through Friday. Viewers are asked to rate all the films, with the Best of Fest Viewer’s Choice winner to be presented at Friday’s wrap-up event.
Patrons are asked to donate $5 to benefit Mesquite Reads, a summer reading program at Virgin Valley Elementary School. Once again, DOCUTAH’s Cristina Schultz and Phil Tucker were there to add their unique perspectives on the benefits to our community and Dixie State University alumni. However, Andre Carrier, COO of Eureka Casinos, was unable to join the festivities thanks to the closure of 1-15 at Moapa following heavy flooding on Monday. Mark Wier, mayor of Mesquite, was on hand to present Tuffie Ruth, one of the workers on the Virgin River Gorge highway, with the city’s appreciation for his contribution to the 11-year project. I’m pretty sure Ruth was in the film as the dynamite man!
For a complete schedule of the upcoming films, go to www.EurekaCommunityInitiative.com. Refer to the festival guide for show times.
Tickets are available at JS Merchant inside the Eureka Casino. An All-Film Festival pass is $40. A limited number of Patron passes are available for $50 and include all the films plus the festival’s “It’s a Wrap Party!” on Friday night at the Eureka. Individual tickets can be purchased at Redd Hills Cinema for $5 per film, which, in many cases, also includes one of the shorts. For additional information on Best of Fest or Mesquite Reads, contact Gerri Chasko at (702) 345-4726.
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