— As NASA works toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface, the filmmaker who told the story of the last man to set foot there is ready with a new documentary about the first crew to be lost in pursuit of the moon.

"Apollo 1," from British director Mark Craig, is set to make its world premiere on March 15 at the Boulder International Film Festival in Colorado. The feature-length (101-minute) movie recounts the lives of NASA's first Apollo crew, astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, who were tragically killed when a fire swept through their spacecraft during a launch pad test on Jan. 27, 1967.

"Made with great sensitivity, it ["Apollo 1"] aims to tell the story of a remarkable era, the extraordinary crew, their families and those around them in the early days of the Apollo program," read the film's announcement posted online on Saturday (Feb. 22). "Mark directed the much loved 'The Last Man on the Moon' and this new film grew out of the connections he made then."

"Last Man," released in 2014, told the story of Gene Cernan, who as commander of NASA's Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, was the last human (to date) to leave his bootprints on the moon. Like all of the Apollo astronauts who safely flew to the moon and back, their journeys were only possible due to the changes made to Apollo spacecraft following the Apollo 1 fire.

Among the people featured in "Apollo 1" is Cernan's widow, Barbara Butler,

A synopsis of "Apollo 1" released by the Boulder International Film Festival, reads as follows:

"Martha Chaffee met her husband Roger on a blind date. An accomplished pilot and a devoted spouse and father, he flew surveillance sorties during the Cuban missile crisis before joining NASA's astronaut corps. Ed White was another extraordinary man who became the first American to walk in space. Gus Grissom was made of the original right stuff. He served in WWII and flew space missions in the Mercury and Gemini programs. They would all meet their fate on January 27, 1967, on Pad 34 at Cape Kennedy.

"What happened that day would shock the nation and NASA to its core, shatter the lives of the families of the three astronauts, and change space travel forever. 'Apollo 1' tells the inspiring story of the human spirit, as we look to a new generation of Artemis astronauts who are prepared to face the ever-present risks of space exploration."

"Apollo 1" also includes interviews with Chaffee's widow and daughter, Martha and Sheryl, and Lowell Grissom, Gus' brother, among others.

Bulter and the Chaffees, as well as Craig and producers Keith Haviland and Ansgar Pohle are scheduled to attend the premiere at Boulder Theater, according to the film festival program. The director and producers will also be at a second screening of "Apollo 1" to be shown at Stewart Auditorium in Longmont the following day (March 16).

Tickets are available for the public to stream the documentary online starting on March 17 through March 28.

The film festival is also showing "Spacewoman," another documentary produced by Haviland Digital, which tells the story of NASA astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command space shuttle missions. Playing March 16 at Boulder Theater, Collins, Haviland and director Hannah Berryman will attend.

In addition to "Apollo 1" and "Last Man on the Moon," Craig is also credited with the visual effects for the 2017 documentary, "Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo."

"Apollo 1" was edited by Jörg Levsen with cinematography by Dominic Gill, score by Anne Nikitin ("I.S.S.") and sound design by Nick Adams.