NZ premiere of the revolutionary solar-powered flight doco

New Zealand premiere of the revolutionary solar-powered flight documentary, POINT OF NO RETURN at DocEdge Film Festival

POINT OF NO RETURN, a new documentary that takes viewers behind the headlines of Solar Impulse, the first solar-powered flight around the world, will make its New Zealand premiere at DocEdge Film Festival with screenings in Wellington and Auckland.

Billed as one of the great scientific adventure stories of our century, the feature-length film follows pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg as they take turns battling nature, their own crew, and sometimes logic itself, to achieve the impossible: flying 26,000 miles powered only by the sun, to prove the potential of clean energy.

From Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, their experimental aircraft touched down in cities like Ahmedabad, India; Mandalay, Myanmar; Nanjing, China; San Francisco, USA; Sevilla, Spain; and Cairo, Egypt.

It was an arduous and risky journey, crippled by numerous setbacks. With the wingspan of a 747 but the weight of a car, the zero-emission Solar Impulse experimental plane can easily break apart in turbulent weather, making death a very real possibility.

Add in Borschberg’s five day, five night, epic 5,545-mile flight over the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Hawaii - the longest solo flight in history - and all bets were off. San Francisco-based filmmakers Noel Dockstader and Quinn Kanaly were acutely aware of the jeopardy.

“We didn’t know if the plane would make it around the world or if we would have a story in the end. It was a moonshot. But we knew we had to try to capture this moment in history.”

For 10 months, Dockstader and Kanaly found themselves on opposite sides of the world (with the plane and at mission control), tracking the unfolding drama from two perspectives — not just to capture one of the great adventure stories of our time, but also the powerful message it carries for the future of our planet.

“As we face profound environmental challenges today, we want this story of innovation to bring hope for the future. At its core, this film is about the grit and courage it takes to make difficult decisions when everything is on the line.” Since Solar Impulse landed in Abu Dhabi, an increasing number of natural disasters, from massive coral bleaching events to flooding and wildfires, have plagued the planet, highlighting the urgency for creative solutions to address this global environmental crisis.

Piccard and Borschberg are continuing their fight for clean energy with Piccard currently spearheading the World Alliance for Energy Efficient Solutions, and Borschberg taking electric propulsion a step further, developing the next generation of electric planes.

As the pilots continue their fight for a cleaner energy future, filmmakers Kanaly and Dockstader are also on a mission to take the message of Solar Impulse’s inspiring flight to global audiences, including schools and Universities around the world. In New Zealand they will be participating in the festivals Docs 4 Schools program, sharing the film and their experiences with school children in the Wellington and Auckland areas.

Bringing the film to New Zealand is a natural fit, considering the country’s bold commitments to 100% renewable energy by 2035, and zero carbon emissions by 2050. But achieving this difficult goal will be much harder than setting it, as the pilots and team of Solar Impulse came to understand all too well from their thirteen year odyssey to build and fly their zero-emissions plane around the world.

DOC EDGE FILM FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

Wellington - Roxy Cinema

FRI 18/05 8:45 PM

SUN 20/05 1:45 PM

Auckland - Q Theater

FRI 25/05 9:15 PM

SUN 27/05 2:30 PM

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