Granite Rapids Moon – MVAC Fundraiser Film Nights

What: Showing of Granite Rapids Moon, the first feature film to be completely filmed within the Grand Canyon

Where: Lamphouse Theatre – 223 5th Ave S, Twin Falls, ID 83301

When: Sunday, September 14 | 2pm

Monday, September 15 | 5:30pm (includes zoom Q&A from Writer/Director & Lead Actor) & 7:30pm

Tuesday, September 16 | 5:30pm (includes zoom Q&A from Writer/Director & Lead Actor)

Cost: Tickets are available at the Lamphouse Theatre – call 208-933-7469 for tickets or visit https://www.lamphousecinema.com/

A portion of the box office from this event will be donated to the Magic Valley Arts Council. Join us for a movie night and help to support independent cinema and local arts at the same time! IMPORTANT: Be sure to mention the Magic Valley Arts Council when you show and/or pick up your tickets at the box office.

Synopsis

A happily married father of two, shaken by a message written in a birthday card for his daughter, abruptly leaves his family for a week-long trek through the Grand Canyon. As we follow his solo hike, we see his memories of an earlier trip through the Grand Canyon with a different woman.

Shot with only the equipment that a cast and crew of eight could carry on two 41-mile hikes (one in 20-degree December and the other in 95-degree June), this family-friendly romantic drama is the first narrative feature to shoot the majority of its footage inside the rim of the Grand Canyon. The movie contains no nudity, sex, guns, violence, drugs, tobacco, or strong profanity.

Granite Rapids Moon stars Brit Morgan, John Charles Meyer, Susan Papa, Etienne Eckert, Micah Cohen, KylieRae Condon, and Missi Pyle. The film was written and directed by Kenneth Cran, and produced by John Charles Meyer and Susan Papa.

Director Statement

You cannot describe the experience of being in the Grand Canyon. You cannot; it’s just that simple. Artists paint it, photographers photograph it, musicians create music inspired by it. And filmmakers have attempted to capture it cinematically. But to experience it, you have to be in it. Nevertheless, I have now made my attempt to capture the emotionality of the Canyon by telling a story about characters on a journey through it. I first thought that I would shoot Granite Rapids Moon with an iPhone and a few actor friends. Guerilla filmmaking, no permits, no insurance, etc. That’s what I envisioned. The Grand Canyon was my favorite place in the world and my church, and it’s really impossible to take a bad picture there, so I felt I could be my own cinematographer and direct with the phone in my hand. But upon sharing my idea with actor friends John Charles Meyer and Susan Papa, the little experimental film that I wanted to make became something bigger. I trusted and respected both of my friends enough to turn over the producing duties to them, and they organized the production. Thus the years-long odyssey that is this film became a reality.

With Granite Rapids Moon, I hope some of those people who just make it to the rim and take a photo will see that the Grand Canyon is much more than a photo op; it’s a place of epic sublimity that has changed and shaped people and their own stories. And to tell this story, I relied on my 20+ years of experience hiking there to write the screenplay. What I always love about hiking the Canyon are the people I meet, and I have met some memorable characters. Hence, the characters in our film are inspired in part or in whole on the people that I have met and, at times, befriended. It’s also semi-autobiographical. The character John Curran is a version of myself, and he trusts the Canyon and respects it enough to make a thoughtful return journey after ten years. His desire to “leave no trace” is a dual message and truly oxymoronic. We are not supposed to leave proof (a trace of ourselves) that we were in it’s depths, and yet there is literally no way that we do not take a piece of the Canyon with us when we leave. For me, Granite Rapids Moon is a culmination of all those pieces I have taken.