Posted by Jenna Sieker in WINDRIDER HOSTS AMERICA FERRERA, WILMER VALDERRAMA, AND THE COLORADO PREMIERE OF “THE DRY LAND”
On July 1st, there will be plenty of star gazing at the Stargazers Theatre in Colorado Springs, when Fuller Theological Seminary and the Windrider Forum hosts the Colorado premiere of “The Dry Land”. Members of the all-star cast at this event will include America Ferrera (Golden Globe and Emmy award winning actress from “Ugly Betty“) and Wilmer Valderrama (award winning actor “Fez” from “That 70’s Show”). They will be joined by Ryan Piers Williams, Director/Writer of “The Dry Land” in an impressive debut with his first feature length film, and Ryan O’Nan, in a breakout performance as the lead actor.
“The Dry Land”, a 2010 Sundance Film Festival selection, is a powerful and gritty drama exploring the challenges facing a young soldier (O’Nan) returning from Iraq struggling to reconnect with his wife (Ferrera), family (including Melissa Leo), and friends back in rural Texas (including Valderrama and Jason Ritter). Having survived the dangerous battlefield in Iraq, this soldier now faces an equally challenging battle back home to recover a normal life. The Dry Land has played at several film festivals and picked up the Best Narrative award at the Dallas International Film Festival.
An additional screening of the film for military personnel and their spouses will be held in the afternoon at Ft Carson (one of the primary Army posts sending soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan). There have been several private screenings with military groups, the cast and crew recently completed a USO tour in the Gulf with the film, but our event at Ft Carson (in a theater that seats 1000) will be the first time the film has screened at a military installation in the US. This is a HUGE honor for Colorado Springs and for the soldiers and family members at Ft Carson. The US Army Chief of Staff, General George Casey, has seen the film and endorsed it.
The Garrison Commander at Ft Carson (Col Robert McLaughlin) has embraced the event and sent out a personal request to key local supporters and active duty military and their spouses encouraging them to attend the screening.
The Dry Land is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 30, but we are fortunate to host the Colorado premiere of the film on the evening of July 1st, at 7pm in the Stargazers Theatre. A filmmaker reception with the cast and crew will precede the film at 5:30pm. For more info, go to www.windridercolorado.com. We recommend you pre-purchase tickets by calling 719.385.0085 (ask for Lindy).
