Katie Bender (filmmaker)

Katie Bender Wynn (born 5 October 1985) is an Australian filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She made her feature-length directing debut with the 2016 documentary The Will To Fly about Australian Olympic freestyle skier gold medalist Lydia Lassila.

Katie Bender Wynn
Born (1985-10-05) 5 October 1985
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
EducationMethodist Ladies College
Occupation(s)Director, producer, athlete

Early life

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.[1]

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 the defending Olympic champion at the time and had just returned to the sport as a first-time mother. Bender realised 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.[2][3][4]

The Will To Fly was five years in the making and one of Australia's first feature-length sports documentaries. 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.[5][6] The film was quoted "The Most Inspirational Movie of the Year" by The Huffington Post Australia.[7]

Matildas: The World At Our Feet

Bender was the director of the 2023 Disney+ docu-series Matildas: The World At Our Feet.[8][9]

The six-part docu-series is an inspirational and intimate behind-the-scenes story following the Matildas, as they prepare for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on home soil. The series features players including superstar Sam Kerr, Ellie Carpenter, Mary Fowler, and more.[10][11]

Filmography

Film awards and nominations
The Will To Fly

References
  1. "Theme: Finding Our Fire". TEDx Youth @ Canberra. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  2. 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.
  3. "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.
  4. Saurine, Angela. "Winter Olympian Lydia Lassila stars in new ski film The Will To Fly". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  5. 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.
  6. Paatsch, Leigh. "The Will To Fly is a surprisingly compelling story of triumph". Herald Sun. News Corp. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  7. Sharwood, Anthony (12 March 2016). "The Will To Fly Featuring Australian Aerial Skier Lydia Lassila Is The Most Inspirational Movie of the Year". HuffPost. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  8. "Disney+ shares first look at six-part docuseries, Matildas: The World at Our Feet". Media Week. 12 April 2023.
  9. "'Matildas: World At Our Feet' (Trailer)". Media Week. 12 April 2023.
  10. "A New Six-Part Series Follows The Matildas On Their Journey Towards The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023". Marie Claire Australia. 26 April 2023.
  11. "'Matildas: World at Our Feet': A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Australia ahead of Women's World Cup". ESPN. 19 April 2023.
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