In producing, writing and directing "Chesley Bonestell: A Brush With The Future," award-winning filmmaker and eight-time Emmy Award nominee Douglass M. Stewart Jr. takes viewers on an extraordinary voyage into the life and career of "the Father of Space Art." Bonestell is credited with helping inspire America's Space Program and Stewart likes to point out that "Chesley Bonestell is the visionary artist who took us to the Moon, not with technology, but with a paint brush."
Winning two prestigious Best Documentary Awards, one at Comic-Con 2018 and a second one at the 2019 Boston Science Fiction Film Festival, the film has screened to enthusiastic audiences across the country, including the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin's
Jean Cocteau Cinema in New Mexico. The film lands next in "The City of Good Neighbors" for a special two-day limited engagement at the historic North
Park Theatre on September 14 and 15 at 11:30AM.
"The world of science fiction has been blessed with the contributions of many great artists as well as writers," said George R.R. Martin in a special Santa Fe introduction to the film this past April. "One of the greatest was Chesley Bonestell, the great astronomical artist, whose visions...reached the covers of many science fiction and science magazines in the 50s, 60s and 70s...I'm proud to present a documentary about the life and work of Chesley Bonestell."
It's a fun piece of irony that the historic North
Park Theatre, which recently celebrated an architectural milestone in its "Centennial Restoration" project, should host a film about Bonestell, who started his career as an architect. Chesley's visionary art did more than inspire America to reach for the stars. His architectural visions literally attained new heights here on Earth when he helped design the tallest skyscraper in New York City in 1930 - the iconic Chrysler Building. A few years later, Bonestell turned blueprints into beautiful paintings for the tallest and longest bridge in 1937, San Francisco's majestic Golden Gate Bridge. When he moved to Hollywood, his architectural background served him well in his new career as a visual effects matte painter. He created movie magic for classic films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Citizen Kane, Destination Moon and The War of the Worlds.
"Those who have seen Bonestell's work are amazed at how accurate his depictions of planets and stars are, even though they were painted long before high-powered telescopes and space probes existed," says the film's Producer/Writer/Director
Doug Stewart. "The film is called 'A Brush with the Future' because of that uncanny accuracy. Now that we are going back to the moon, and then onto Mars, one can appreciate Bonestell's ability to inspire and influence the future even today."
"The documentary is both remarkable and fascinating," said a Southern California KPFK radio review. "In part, this is because Chesley Bonestell was a remarkable and fascinating man who inspired people to majestic achievements...His paintings are speculative in nature, fueled with imagination and romantic vision, yet they make you feel like you're there, that you'd like to be there...and that you could be there."
"Chesley Bonestell: A Brush with the Future" will screen at 11:30AM on September 14 and 15 at the North
Park Theatre, 1428 Hertel Ave, Buffalo, NY 14216. To view the film's trailer, please visit www.chesleybonestell.com. For tickets and additional information about this screening, please visit the North
Park Theatre website at www.northparktheatre.org.
More about the Film: "Chesley Bonestell: A Brush with the Future" is featured in the September 2019 issue of Sky and Telescope Magazine. The article by journalist Donald Vaughan is titled "Postcards from the Future."
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