Sunday, April 17, 2005
McBean Theater at 1pm
Bottle Blaster Rocket Workshop Precedes the Screening, noon-1pm

It’s the International Year of Physics 2005 and the Exploratorium film program screens October Sky, and features its screenwriter, Lewis Colick in person. Set in 1957, “October Sky” recounts the story of Homer Hickam, Jr., a coalminer’s son whose young life and career is changed forever by seeing the world’s first manmade satellite, Sputnick, cross the October sky above Coalwood, West Virginia when he is a boy. Based on Hickam’s autobiography, Rocket Boys, it was adapted for the screen by Lewis Colick. Following the screening, Colick discusses his creative influences and the process of adapting a novel for film. A Bottle Blaster Rocket Workshop precedes the screening, from noon-1pm. What’s a bottle blaster rocket? A foam rocket launched by the force of air that is the energy that propels the rocket up to 200 feet. The film and associated events are free with museum admission.

October Sky (1999, 108 min.) directed by Joe Johnston, chronicles the struggle of a young Homer Hickam as he attempts to escape Coalwood, West Virginia, the small mining town where he is born. Homer has no desire to become a miner, a profession his father finds noble. He is instead determined to become a space engineer, a field of work that doesn’t actually exist yet. His physics and chemistry teacher, Miss Riley, encourages Homer and his three friends to fight the odds and build their rockets. October Sky is a character-driven story with a strong narrative and visual style. Screenwriter Lewis Colick won the Humanitas Prize and was nominated for a Writer’s Guild award for this screenplay. Questions and answers follow the screening. Mr. Colick was born in Brooklyn and received an MFA in Playwriting from UCLA. In addition to October Sky, Mr. Colick has written the screenplays for many movies including: Unlawful Entry, Ghosts of Mississippi, Domestic Disturbance and most recently, Ladder 49.