On Saturday and Sunday, October 1 and 2, the Historic Park Theatre will screen Best Documentary Award-winner Ghosts of the West: The End of the Bonanza Trail, along with a presentation of the companion multimedia lecture, Ghost Towns of the American West. Both were shot on location in the ghost towns and mining camps of the Old West. Q&A sessions with writer-director E. S. Knightchilde will follow each program.
The special event celebrates the tenth anniversary of Ghosts of the West’s test screenings and twenty years since the ghost town documentary project began. In 2014, it gave the 225-seat Historic Park Theatre its first sold-out show since 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum. Box office lines and capacity crowds, including sold-out events, were familiar sights at theatres from Fort Collins to Phoenix.
Drawing from more than two decades of research, the multimedia lecture includes tales of the rise and fall of Old West towns and is accompanied by both historical and contemporary images. At its debut for the Niwot Historical Society, more than 200 people packed the hall beyond capacity. The same show sold out well in advance at Chautauqua in Boulder.
The broad appeal of ghost towns is easily explained by on-screen expert Ron Ruhoff at the start of the film: “Just the thought of visiting an old town with those false-fronted buildings and their open doors and windows... There's something magical about it – about the Old West...”
Writer-Director/Speaker E. S. Knightchilde will present the lecture and the film and answer questions about the entire project after each program. The movie will screen at 7 PM on Saturday and at 4 PM on Sunday. Tickets for Adults, Seniors/Students, and Children under 12 are $12, $10, and $8, respectively. The lecture begins at 2 PM on Sunday, with tickets priced at $10, $8, and $6, respectively. A special combo offer is available for either screening plus the lecture for $18, $15, and $12. Visit www.HistoricParkTheatre.com for information and tickets.