7:15 pm | FREE admission | 41 minutes | Documentary
Our childhood influences us like no other time in our lives, flooding our consciousness with seemingly invincible heroes we idolize. But after one of our heroes dies, our memories of that person become enchanting stories of legend. At the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, a community of antique aviators continues to remember their own legendary hero, Cole Palen, by reviving his past traditions and introducing them to new generations.
“Destined To Fly” is a forty-one minute documentary film about Cole Palen, the founder of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Cole’s passion for building and repairing antique airplanes transcends multiple generations, forging connections through childhood experience, memory, and storytelling. Founded in 1958, Old Rhinebeck was one of the first airfields dedicated to antique airplane restoration. But the community brought together by the romantic era of flight lost their hero after Cole Palen’s death in 1993. More than twenty years later, Cole’s own childhood dream is sustained by the now grown children who were touched at an early age by Cole’s passion and vision.
Christopher Nostrand is an American filmmaker from New York’s Hudson Valley. Video production started as a hobby for Christopher at an early age and led him to pursue an academic career in the art of filmmaking. Christopher earned his Masters of Fine Arts in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College in 2015 and previously earned a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from in Radio/TV Production at SUNY New Paltz in 2011.
Christopher’s achievements include a CINE Golden Eagle award, 4 Tellys awards, a Research Symposium award, 2 Best Documentary awards, a Best Cinematography award, and an Audience Choice award and has screened at film festivals such as Woodstock Film Festival, GI Film Festival, and Black Maria Film Festival. Currently Christopher owns and operates his film and video production company Nostrand Productions in Kingston, New York.
“The creation of film is parallel to the painter and the painters canvas. In film, our canvas is the two-dimensional screen that we use to create new realities within each brushstroke or subjective choice we make. As Filmmakers, our highlights are lights and our blacks are shadows to create the illusion of depth to engage our audiences. But our greatest strength is the powerful tool of meaning which master storytellers can only achieve.”
The Artist’s New Work Forum provides an opportunity for artists to present new work or works-in-progress to the public. Admission is free, and audiences are asked to participate in a survey and Q&A immediately following the presentation with the artist(s). Gauging audience reaction is a key element to work-shopping the piece and is at the core of this program.
This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson.