Docutah screening of ‘My Father’s Highway’ tells story of ‘impossible road’ on ‘improbable route’

Photo stills from the documentary film "My Father's Highway" overlaid on a film image, locations and dates not specified | Movie still courtesy of Docutah International Documentary Film Festival, St. George News
ST. GEORGE Dixie State University Docutah International Documentary Film Festival will screen the documentary “My Father’s Highway” on March 30 at 7 p.m. in the new theater at Dixie Technical College. The film is an epic story of how an impossible road was built on an improbable route and the people who overcame every obstacle, even death, to make sure it happened.

To this day it represents one of the most expensive and spectacular engineering feats in the history of the United States interstate highway system. The finished road takes a traveler on a 500-million-year geological journey, on a four-lane super highway that has become the economic lifeline of the desert Southwest.

“My Father’s Highway” tells the story of the route from Los Angeles northward – U.S. Interstate 15 – through Las Vegas that crosses a section of rugged, high mountain Mojave Desert in the extreme northwest portion of Arizona. The interstate then continues north to the Arizona/Utah border, then past St. George. This portion of I-15 was completed in 1973 at the cost of more than $61 million, or $100 an inch. The road winds through the Virgin River Gorge, at times only 150 feet wide with 2,000-foot cliffs towering on either side, revealing breathtaking scenic beauty.

“We are delighted to screen this film in the new state-of-the-art auditorium at the Dixie Technical College,” said Della Lowe, marketing director for the Docutah International Documentary Film Festival. “The film celebrates man’s ability to conquer obstacles with technology and ingenuity, so where better to present this film than at a school dedicated to those values and which is training the next generation of technology stars.”

The film was produced and directed by Phil Tuckett, professor of digital film and executive director, Docutah International Documentary Film Festival at Dixie State University. This film is part of a series of documentaries professionally produced in concert with film students at Dixie State University called High Desert Chronicles, films that spring from the environs of the desert Southwest.

“I had always wanted to do this film since my wife and I returned to St George,” Tuckett said. “I was told there was a road through a slot canyon that was impassable, even on a horse, and now, there was a four-lane highway on it. I always wondered where did that come from and who built it.”

Ticket reservations must be made in advance and can be made online. Tickets are $10 cash-only at the door.

•  S P O N S O R E D   C O N T E N T •

Event details

  • What: Docutah screening of “My Father’s Highway.”
  • When: Friday, March 30, 7 p.m.
  • Where: Dixie Technical College, 610 S. Tech Ridge Drive, St. George.
  • Cost: $10 cash only at the door.
  • Reserve tickets: Online.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

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