Aviation Film Festival
Celebrating 100 Years of Courage, Innovation, and Flight, The Aviation Film Festival.
Founded and Produced by Aviatrix Company
In partnership with the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce and participating host organizations.
BULT FIELD May 1, 2027. Additional film festival locations coming soon.
Aviation International Film Festival
Aviation International Film Festival
The Aviation International Film Festival is more than a film festival—it is an experience that connects past, present, and future through the power of aviation storytelling. Inspired by the fearless legacy of Bessie Coleman, the festival invites audiences into a world where history takes flight and new voices rise.
Attendees step into a dynamic environment where films, conversations, and community come together. Screenings highlight bold aviation stories—from early pioneers to today’s innovators shaping electric and sustainable flight. Between films, audiences engage with filmmakers, pilots, and industry leaders, creating a rare opportunity to explore aviation from multiple perspectives.
The atmosphere is both inspiring and accessible. Whether you are an aviation enthusiast, a filmmaker, or simply curious, the festival offers a welcoming space to learn, connect, and imagine what comes next. Thoughtfully curated programs, audience awards, and meaningful discussions ensure every moment feels purposeful.
At its core, the festival is about possibility. It honors those who broke barriers while empowering the next generation—especially women and underrepresented voices—to see themselves in aviation’s future. It is not just about watching films; it is about becoming part of the story.
Coming: 3rd Age of Aviation Chicago
A film premiere and leadership forum on building Chicago’s electric aviation future
The Third Age of Aviation: Chicago convenes industry, energy, and civic leaders to shape what comes next. Building Chicago’s Electric Aviation Economy, this summit pairs a cinematic film premiere with a high-level forum to accelerate real progress—investment, infrastructure, and innovation. Focused on green, sustainable jobs and workforce development, it explores how electric aviation can create new career pathways while advancing climate goals. From vertiports to training pipelines, the event highlights actionable steps to position Chicago as a leader in this emerging sector. Grounded in legacy and driven by possibility, this is a launch moment for a city ready to rise into aviation’s next era.
3rd Age of Aviation Media Coverage
Electric Aviation Events
Premiere of the Pulitzer Electric Air Race
Seattle Museum of Flight on August 29, 2026 for the Premiere of the Putlizer Electric Air Race. One hundred years after the legendary Pulitzer Air Races transformed aviation, pilots return to competition in a new era of electric flight. This documentary follows innovators, engineers, and racers proving that the next century of aviation
Seattle Museum of Flight on August 29, 2026 for the Premiere of the Putlizer Electric Air Race. One hundred years after the legendary Pulitzer Air Races transformed aviation, pilots return to competition in a new era of electric flight. This documentary follows innovators, engineers, and racers proving that the next century of aviation will be cleaner, quieter, and just as daring as the pioneers who came before.
Pulitzer Electric Air Race
Seattle Museum of Flight
Seattle Museum of Flight
The Museum of Flight is the largest independent, non-profit air and space museum in the world! With over 130 aircraft and spacecraft, tens of thousands of artifacts, millions of rare photographs, dozens of exhibits and experiences and a world-class library, the Museum and its people bring humankind's incredible history of flight to life.
Retracing the 1929 Women’s Air Derby
Derby Skies | Tomorrow takes Flight
DERBY SKIES
The 1929–2029 Centennial Journey
1929: They opened the sky.
2029: We follow their story.
In August 1929, twenty pioneering women aviators took off from Santa Monica, California, bound for Cleveland, Ohio, in the first Women’s Air Derby. Among them were Amelia Earhart, Louise Thaden, Pancho Barnes and other women who helped change the perception of what women could accomplish in aviation.
One hundred years later, Derby Skies will follow their path.
The documentary will retrace selected portions of the historic route, returning to places connected to the original race and discovering the stories of the women who flew it.
Along the way, the film will meet today’s women in aviation—from experienced pilots to women just beginning their flying journeys—and explore how the opportunities they have today grew from the determination of the women of 1929. Rather than recreating the race, Derby Skies: The Centennial Journey will use the historic route as a thread connecting past and present. Archival photographs, original accounts, historic locations and contemporary flight will come together to tell a story spanning 100 years. The journey begins in Santa Monica and ends in Cleveland, just as it did in 1929.
But the larger story is about where women in aviation go next.
Santa Monica → Cleveland
1929 → 2029
100 Years of Women in Flight
An Aviatrix Company film.
The Electric Aviatrix Podcast
The Electric Aviatrix” empowers women and young girls to see themselves in the future of flight. Hosted by aviator and filmmaker Susan Roe Musacchio, the podcast blends stories of electric aviation, eVTOLs, and pioneering women pilots—showing how innovation opens new doors in the sky. Tomorrow Takes Flight.
