'Goodbye Solo' comes to the High Country

A critically acclaimed film partially shot in Blowing Rock is coming to the High Country in June.

“Goodbye Solo” will premiere at the DragonFly Theater on June 12 and open for a single showing at the Hayes Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, June 16 at 7 p.m.

Goodbye Solo, written and directed by Ramin Bahrani, tells the tale of Solo, a Senegalese taxi driver in Winston-Salem.

He is hired by William, a tough, 70-year-old white Southerner, to drive him in two weeks time to the Blowing Rock.

Solo is suspicious and comes to believe that William intends to take his own life by jumping off 250 million year-old rock formation, the Blowing Rock. Solo befriends William in an attempt to convince him not to commit suicide.

"Blowing Rock, Boone and the North Carolina mountains was an important childhood vacation destination for my family. The autumnal landscapes, colors and fog are majestic and otherworldly,” Bahrani said.

“As a child I have thrown countless sticks into the legendary winds of Blowing Rock; winds strong enough to blow a person into the heavens,” he added.

Since opening in New York City and Chicago earlier this year, Goodbye Solo and Bahrani have been lavished with praise: The film won the International Critics Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert said of the movie, “Wherever you live, when this film opens it will be the best film in town.”

"We've been excited about ‘Goodbye Solo’ showing here for quite some time," said Rick Suyao, marketing director of the Hayes Performing Arts Center.

"Since we announced the June 16 show date, our phones have been ringing off the hook. It's great to see the beauty of the North Carolina High Country showcased in a film that’s being seen internationally, and the buzz from the positive reviews makes this an exciting event."

Tickets for the Hayes Center showing are $5 and can be obtained in advance by calling the Hayes Center box office at (828) 295-9627. Only 348 tickets will be sold and they will not be available online.

For more information on Goodbye Solo, or to see the theatrical trailer, visit goodbyesolomovie.com.

Jeff Eason contributed to this report.

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