On Nov. 18, filmmakers Phillip Kibbe and Benjamin Saks screened their film “Float” at ETSU, which follows the story of F1D competitors at the 2014 World Championship.
F1D model airplanes are crafted from light balsa wood and microfilm. The planes are meant to be flown indoors due to the inability to withstand external conditions. F1D competitions have occured for 60 years regionally and internationally.
According to Kibbe, it was like coming home returning to Johnson City after filming a regional competition at the Mini-Dome early in the film-making process.
“We came out here, and one of our first shoots was in the Dome,” Kibbe said. “Some of the footage is in the film, and it is just a really special thing to be able to come back here and see it. It is very nostalgic for us. You know, I walked into the Dome two hours ago, and it was just like, ‘Wow, we were here eight years ago.’ It is so cool.”
Saks became involved in competing with F1D’s in high school almost two decades ago and remembers coming to Johnson City for those events every year. Despite being unable to continue flying post-graduation, he is still very passionate about it. Through the film, Saks hopes to inspire new generations of flyers to revive what seems to be a dying art.
“We screened this film at the National Science Olympiad tournament earlier at Cornell University,” Saks said. “We had three screenings. They were completely packed. … I had a student come up to me … flying his Wright Stuff plane, and he said, ‘I want to build an F1D. How do I do that?’ So I connected him to some people where he lives, and earlier this year he competed at the team selection and is now on the junior F1D team. That is how I measure the impact, not in dollars but in future F1D builders.”
Kibbe tried to mirror the elegance and lightness of the planes through the cinematography of the film.
“The planes were so light and ethereal,” Kibbe said. “They were just these weird objects that move so slowly. When we were editing, we found that if we tried to make it too fast-paced or rush it, it was in direct conflict with how the planes look. It felt really weird. We kind of had to mix the two together.”
Following the film, Kibbe and Saks answered questions from audience members. The night ended with available refreshments and continued conversations with the filmmakers.
The next documentary as part of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers will be “The Infiltrators” next semester.
