The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) will host its Third Annual Reel Stuff Film Festival of Aviation Nov. 5-6, in Dayton, Ohio.
Five screenings over two days will celebrate the diverse and colorful world of aviation as depicted through invited feature films, independent documentaries, and public television productions. Each project will be presented by a filmmaker associated with its production, followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Reel Stuff 3, as it is also known, is open to the public with all ticket and merchandise proceeds benefiting the Dayton-based nonprofit NAHF Learning Center and its education programs. The NAHF is a Congressionally chartered 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to honoring America’s outstanding air and space pioneers.
Oscar winning actor, pilot, and 2006 NAHF enshrinee Cliff Robertson is serving as Reel Stuff 3’s Honorary Chairman and will host an opening night welcoming reception at the Engineer’s Club of Dayton on Friday, Nov. 5. A screening of the acclaimed documentary, Flyabout, will follow the reception, presented by its director, producer and key subject of the film, pilot Monika Petrillo.
The next day, Nov. 6, four more projects and films will be screened at the Dayton Convention Center theater, including the 1991 action-drama Flight of the Intruder, based on the novel of the same name by author Stephen Coonts. Famed cinematographer, pilot, and 2010 NAHF enshrinee, Clay Lacy, will share behind-the-scenes tales of the complex aerial work done for the movie’s legendary director, John Milius.
The three additional presenters and projects to be screened at the Third Annual Reel Stuff Film Festival are:
- Heather Taylor, Producer-Director of Breaking Through the Clouds – a documentary on the historic first-ever women’s national air derby, held in 1929 and featuring such aviation pioneers as Amelia Earhart, Pancho Barnes and Louise Thaden.
- Paul Glenshaw, Producer-Historian, presenting The First Aviation Documentary – The Wright Brothers and the First Military Airplane, a scholarly examination of rare, collected documentary footage of the Wright Brothers’ aerial demonstrations at Fort Myer, Virginia in 1909.
- Adam White, Emmy-winning creator and cinematographer of the 2004 documentary, The Restorers, about vintage aircraft and those who keep them flying, will present a sneak peek from an episode-in-progress of his new public television series of the same name, filmed in high-definition.
Reel Stuff planners will announce corporate and patron sponsors in the coming weeks, and Kaplan encourages anyone interested in exploring sponsorship opportunities to contact the NAHF now. While sponsors and donors are sought, Kaplan acknowledged the early and key support of Reel Stuff 3’s creative services partner, the CreativeFuse Initiative (CFI), and media partner public television affiliate ThinkTV, both Dayton-based. A small but dedicated corps of volunteers also help make Reel Stuff possible, from taking tickets to serving as presenter escorts to selling festival merchandise.
Reel Stuff Film Fest admission to each movie is $10 per person, including the presentations and Q&A sessions. The opening night welcoming reception and screening is $35 per person by advance reservation, or the Flyabout screening alone is $10 per person. A complete schedule of Reel Stuff showtimes and locations, presenters’ bios, sponsor opportunities, and other festival details is available at ReelStuffFilmFest.com.
