A mysterious sci-fi film starring Gram Parsons and other counterculture luminaries shot in Joshua Tree in 1970 will be the subject of an upcoming book by local writer Chris Campion.
Before Star Wars, Blade Runner, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, there was Saturation 70, the groundbreaking lost sci-fi film about environmental collapse by visionary filmmaker Anthony Foutz and legendary special effects maestro, Douglas Trumbull. Saturation 70 starred country rock icon Gram Parsons, Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, Julian Jones-Leitch (the then-5-year-old son of Rolling Stone Brian Jones), and rodeo tailor Nudie Cohn.
Filmed at a 1969 UFO convention near Joshua Tree and in Los Angeles, it has been described as a ‘counterculture Wizard of Oz’. The film was to feature revolutionary computer-generated effects produced at Trumbull’s Studio City workshop.
The financing fell apart during production. The footage disappeared. The full story behind the film has never been told, until now…
The strange-but-true tale behind this mythical pop culture artefact will be revealed in Campion’s 176-page deluxe hardback art book in cooperation with the film’s director, Anthony Foutz, containing a rare trove of unseen behind-the-scenes photographs (including never-before-seen photos of Gram Parsons), production stills from the movie, script fragments, and much more. Anthony Foutz is opening his personal archive for the very first time. None of the imagery in this book has ever been published before.
Campion will discuss the book project with local journalist Paul Cullum this Saturday at Freedom Plaza in 29 Palms at 6:15PM, for the 29 Palms Book Festival’s Desert Dreams and Cosmic Realities panel, alongside Leslie and Stephen Shaw, co-authors of Who They Are: And What They’re Up To.
Link to 29 Palms Book Fest live discussion:
https://www.29pbf.com/live-sessions/ufo-literature
Link for more info about the lost film and book project fundraiser:
