“A film begins when it ends,” remarked Ken Cook, Chairman of the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce, as he discussed the upcoming Best of Fest Film Festival at the monthly Chamber luncheon on Wednesday, Sep. 9.

Ken Cook, President of the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce and one of the founders of the Mesquite Best of Fest Film Festival, explains the line-up for this year’s Festival which starts Oct. 5 and runs through Oct. 9. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Ken Cook, President of the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce and one of the founders of the Mesquite Best of Fest Film Festival, explains the line-up for this year’s Festival which starts Oct. 5 and runs through Oct. 9. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

He explained that the best part of movie films comes after someone sees it and then discusses it with other people who then talk about it with more people.

Cook also reminded the audience that “these kinds of things start out small and then grow into a marquee event.” And that describes what has happened with the Mesquite film festival over the last three years which grown into a well-attended annual event. Last year one of the films was sold out numerous times.

The Film Festival, sponsored by the Eureka Community Initiative in partnership with DOCUTAH, will begin Oct. 5 with a Festival Cocktail reception in the Town Square at the Eureka Casino. An award winning documentary 1 Revolution will be shown with the star of the film, Chris Waddell in attendance. Greg Lee and Andre Carrier, owner and Chief Executive Officer respectively of the Eureka Casino Hotel Resort, assisted Waddell in his ascent of one of the tallest mountains in the world.

The film chronicles Waddell’s climb to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, 19,340 feet high, in a specially designed handcycle. Waddell is a 13-time Paralympic medalist and the first paraplegic to conquer the climb almost entirely unassisted.

Six more documentaries will be shown during the Fest that ends Friday, Oct 9 with a VIP Festival Wrap Party at the Eureka Hotel Pool.

Trailers for the movies that feature everything from 2,000 people living in a cemetery, a test airplane pilot, a glassblower, a violin maker, and a cocaine-addicted newspaper editor may be viewed at www.docutah.com. The movie titles that will be shown at the Mesquite Film Fest include Living with the Dead, Umi Yama Aida-In between Mountains and Oceans, Flying the Feathered Edge, Heart of Glass, Once upon a Crime, and The Devil and Angel.

Feature films will be shown Tuesday through Thursday, Oct. 6 through 8, from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Redd Hills Cinema located at 790 W. Pioneer Blvd and also on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 7 and 8 from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the MegaPlex Theatres Mesquite Stadium 6 located at 749 W. Mesquite Blvd.

One hundred percent of the ticket sales will benefit the Mesquite Reads program sponsored by the Eureka Community Initiative. Tickets for the Festival Kick-Off event will be $20. A Patron Pass that includes admission to all the films and the VIP Festival Wrap party is $50. A Festival Pass for all films is $40 or individual tickets per film are $5. Tickets are available at J.S. Merchant in the Eureka Casino.

For more information about the Mesquite Best of Fest Film Festival access the Web site http://eurekacommunityinitiative.com.