Katie Bender (filmmaker)

Katie Bender
Born Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Residence Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Nationality Australian
Education Methodist Ladies College
Alma mater Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
Occupation Director, producer, athlete
Relatives Norman Bender (paternal grandfather)

Kate Rebecca "Katie" Bender (born 5 October 1985) is an Australian film producer, and director. She made her feature-length directing debut with the 2016 documentary The Will To Fly about Australian Olympic freestyle skier gold medalist Lydia Lassila.

Early life and education

Bender is a former gymnast and freestyle skier and trained on the Australian freestyle aerial ski team.

Bender attended Methodist Ladies College in Victoria, Melbourne where she could study and train at a high-performance gymnastics center based on campus. At 16 years old, Bender was recruited by The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia to join an athlete talent pathway program which converted gymnasts into freestyle aerial skiers. She retired from freestyle skiing eight years later after a series of knee injuries.

Bender studied film and digital media at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) based in Los Angeles, California. After graduation, she began working in the movie trailer industry at Trailer Park Inc, a motion picture marketing firm in Hollywood.[1][2]

Film

The Will To Fly

Bender was the producer and director of the 2016 feature documentary The Will To Fly about Australian Olympic freestyle skier gold medalist Lydia Lassila. Bender is an ex-teammate of Lydia and was inspired to make "The Will To Fly" in 2012 while visiting Lydia at a training camp in Utah. Lydia was current defending Olympic champion at the time and had just returned to the sport as a first-time mother. Bender realized the potential for a feature-length film when Lydia explained her sporting aspirations to narrow the gap between male and female capabilities by performing a 'quad triple twisting, triple somersault' at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[3][4][5]

The film made its Australian premiere in Melbourne on International Women's Day (8 March), 2016 followed by a theatrical release where it was positively received by critics.[6][7] The film was quoted "The Most Inspirational Movie Of The Year" by The Huffington Post Australia.[8]

Impact

In October 2015, before the release of The Will To Fly, the film was used as a catalyst in convincing NSW (Australian) parliament to invest in a $10 million Olympic training facility so that the Australian Winter Olympic team could train on home soil.[9][10]

In August 2017, Olympic champion hurdler Sally Pearson made headlines worldwide after coming out of retirement to win the 2017 world championship title. Pearson told the media that her comeback to the sport was motivated after watching The Will To Fly film on a plane in 2016.[11][12][13][14][15]

Filmography

Year Film Director Producer Writer Notes
2016 The Will To Fly
No
No
No

Film awards and nominations

The Will To Fly

References

  1. ↑ "Theme: Finding Our Fire". TEDx Youth @ Canberra. 19 February 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "FIDM Grad Directs 'The Will to Fly' Inspirational Documentary". FIDM. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Bizzaca, Caris. "With her history in women's sport, aerial skier turned filmmaker Katie Bender became the perfect person to tell Lydia Lassila's inspirational story". Screen Australia: The Screen Blog. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Victorian creative team Katie Bender and Leo Baker are soaring to great heights with their project The Will to Fly, released nationally on 10 March". Film Victoria Australia. Film Victoria. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Saurine, Angela. "Winter Olympian Lydia Lassila stars in new ski film The Will To Fly". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Hall, Sandra. "The Will to Fly review: inside the elite world of aerial skiing". Sydney Morning Herald / The Age. Fairfax media. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Paatsch, Leigh. "The Will To Fly is a surprisingly compelling story of triumph". Herald Sun. News Corp. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Sharwood, Anthony. "The Will To Fly Featuring Australian Aerial Skier Lydia Lassila Is The Most Inspirational Movie Of The Year". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Jeffery, Nicole. "Australia's Winter Olympic hopes ramped up". The Australian. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  10. ↑ Turnball, Samantha. "Snowless Lennox head to become Winter Olympic training ground with ski jump ramp". ABC News. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  11. ↑ Gulluan, Scott. "Sally Pearson credits aerial skier Lydia Lassila as key motivation for comeback". Herald Sun. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Lassila movie inspired Sally Pearson". SBS News. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "The film that inspired my comeback". BBC World. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  14. ↑ Jeffery, Nicole. "World Athletics championships Sally Pearson, 21st Century Golden Girl". The Australian. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Lassila movie inspired Sally Pearson". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
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