See 'Kansas from Above' with drone footage documentary at the Salina Art Cinema

Kansas isn't just a flat, barren land consisting of only crops and cattle.

That's the message that the filmmakers of "Kansas from Above," a documentary showcasing aerial footage of the Sunflower State want their audience to realize.

The documentary, which will have three additional showings over the next few weeks at the Salina Art Center Cinema after last weekend's debut, uses drone footage to look at the varied topography of Kansas, traveling east to west.

One of the directors, native Kansan Adam Dreher, who is a self-described radio control nerd, said he gets tired of hearing from people who think the state is just flat and boring.

Because of this passion, he has been finding ways over the past few years to shoot footage to show the vast differences of the landscapes.

"This is kind of the culmination of that," Dreher said. "I ran into Nick (Abt) who was doing the same stuff."

Why use drone technology for 'Kansas from Above?'

He said the idea of shooting from above is to show a different perspective of Kansas, particularly since so much is usually seen from the ground.

"It really shows it in a different way," Dreher said. "Kansas doesn't have a lot of public land, so a lot of these places we shot might have been private land or places you can't explore, so we really wanted to show off some of the features."

He said drone technology has increased significantly over the past few years, making this kind of film more attainable and accessible to filmmakers.

"You couldn't even have done a film like this five years ago, to this quality, unless you have a helicopter and hundreds of thousands of dollars," Dreher said.

What features of Kansas can be seen in the film?

He said the nice thing about this film is that it will feature things Kansans will recognize and things they may never have seen before, because of the remote nature of the land.

"It's a tour of Kansas, leaning into the unique geological features," Dreher said. "Every area has some places you can't get to."

Included in this tour will be such familiar things as the Flint Hills, parts of eastern Kansas with wooded areas, sunflowers and more.

"Most people don't realize that the Gypsum Hills in southeast Kansas are like," he said. "Just massive valleys, red hills and huge bluffs."

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One of Dreher's favorite parts of the documentary comes toward the end, as the film makes its way to the western part of the state.

"Something that almost nobody knows about is called the Arikaree Breaks," he said. "They are absolutely stunning. They touch into Nebraska in the very top left corner."

He said the breaks are full of beautiful valleys and hills that are rarely touched because of their remoteness.

Here's when you can see 'Kansas from Above' in Salina

This film is being shown at the Salina Art Center Cinema in conjunction with the Mountain Plains Biennial at the Art Center and can be seen at 10 a.m. July 27, Aug. 10 and Aug. 24 with admission of $8.

For more information on the Art Center, including upcoming cinema showings , the Mountain Plains Biennial and other events and galleries, visit the center's website at www.salinaartcenter.org .

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: See 'Kansas from Above' with drone footage documentary at the Salina Art Cinema