Movie lovers, get ready for a wild ride and a new take on an old favorite. The Great American Western is about to get a remake by a filmmaker passionate about horses, film and Westerns.
Paul Kiener’s first Western was filmed on a friend’s ranch in Vernal, Utah in 1963 when he was just 17 years old using his father’s 8mm camera. It would take him another 50 years with stops at Brooks Institute of Photography where he studied under Merl Dobre learning the art of filmmaking and a job after graduation with Mel Hardman who taught him the art of hand-holding a camera; to perfect his craft and develop the skills that would allow him to return to the genre and make it his own.
Set in 1880, “Cataract Gold” is the story of two sisters whose widowed father Jeremiah Clark is killed for a map he made while traveling the Colorado River with John Wesley Powell on his expedition in 1869 to map the Green and Colorado Rivers for the US Government. After losing half of their men and most of their boats, Powell and Clark buried the government gold they had taken to pay for provisions on the trip. Clark sat down and drew a map to lead officials back to the gold and they started the long hike out of the canyon.
That’s how the tale begins. The adventure follows several characters across three states creating a tense and suspenseful drama. The chase ends when the parties now in search of the map converge at the top of Cataract Canyon for an epic fight for survival and to claim the gold.
Part history, part drama and suspense with a good old fashioned love story and a full dose of gun fights and killing, Cataract Gold is scheduled to premiere at the Mary Pickford Theater in Cathedral City, on January 26, at 7 p.m.
Tickets and more information is available at: www.aif.world or by calling 760-262-7798. Cataract Gold is an independent American film.
