Screening and appearance, Sunday, 8/23 at 3:00PM, AMC Boston. Tix here.
Aisha: "Hey Everyone! Aisha here :) I wanted to drop a note and invite you to the screening of film project I’ve been a part of called, Learning to Fly on 8/23 at 3P.
The Heartbreak family has been there from the very beginning. You were some of my first photo projects, my teammates and some of my closest friends. My first gig in Boston was HB’s event, “Run the Vote.” My first documentary project and zine was with HB. Y’all believed in me and supported the journey from what felt like the beginning. Thank you all for being a part of one hell of a run community and I hope to see you Sunday."
LEARNING TO FLY follows former competitive runner & Heartbreaker Flyer turned photographer Aisha McAdams as she embarks on a journey to document the triumphs and struggles of some of the biggest names in ultra running, such as Jim Walmsley and Eszter Csillag, as they compete at the Western States Endurance Run in the Mountains of Eastern California and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) in the French Alps.
While photographing and interviewing these elite runners, Aisha confronts her own painful and complex past, and the reasons why she had to step away from racing, a pursuit that had once brought her a much-needed sense of freedom, joy and belonging.
On its face, it might be hard to understand why someone would push themselves to run grueling 100-mile trail races, through the night and up and down thousands of feet of mountain trails. Throughout the journey of documenting these elite athletes in competition though, watching their failures and triumphs up close and seeing the community they’ve built by the process of pushing the unknown, Aisha starts to reclaim not only her love of the sport but also her belief in her own ability to confront her own idea of impossible within her interpretation of the sport.
Learn more: https://learningtoflydoc.com/