Production has begun on “Beyond the Powder: The Legacy of the First Women’s Cross-Country Air Race.”
This feature length documentary from Hemlock Films is about the women who continue to race across the United States, following in the footsteps of the women pilots who raced in 1929.
The documentary will follow a team of two women air racers in the 2014 Air Race Classic, to mirror the story of the original Air Race of 1929.
The first Women’s Air Derby was a cross-country race flown from Santa Monica to the finish line in Cleveland, Ohio, to kick off the National Championship Air Races. The eyes of the country watched as these women made history flying cross-country in what was thought of as a man’s competition. They encountered sabotage, death, and encountering all the difficulties of flying at the dawn of aviation. These women made history and this documentary will inspire young girls and women to do the same, the producers said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu_wzttB1IE
The award-winning production company, Hemlock Films, will produce the documentary to air nationally on PBS.
Director Kara Martinelli has already completed two aviation documentaries for Hemlock Films. Both have won awards: “The Restorers: They Were All Volunteers” has won two Emmy Awards for Writing and Technical Achievement and “Rise Above” has won the International Council of Air Show – Special Achievement Award.
She is currently working on post-production of two more aviation history documentaries, one a documentary TV series. One episode of that series is dedicated entirely to the aviatrix, with stories of the Women’s Air Service Pilots from World War II, Jackie Cochran, and Louise Thaden’s plane that she raced in the 1929 Women’s Air Race.
Hemlock Films’ Adam White will be attached as producer and cinematographer. A graduate of the film program from Wright State University, White has won multiple regional Emmy Awards for his documentaries The Restorers, Red Tail Reborn and The Restorers: They Were All Volunteers, and an Emmy for Cinematography for the PBS documentary Generations: Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
As soon as funding is secured, pre-production will begin in May, and production will begin in June.
For more information: BeyondThePowder.com