Sally

Join us in the cinema for a portrait of Dr Sally Ride – a leading physicist and the first American woman in space.

Dr Sally Ride was a physicist and mission specialist astronaut who earned cultural icon status when she became the first female American astronaut – and the youngest – to complete a space mission in 1983. Rebuffing gender biases from within NASA and in the broader social terrain, Ride took one giant leap for womankind and the ongoing women’s liberation movement.

Despite her time in the media spotlight, Ride led a very private life, keeping her 27-year relationship with partner Tam O’Shaughnessy hidden from almost everyone – even from some of those closest to her.

Curator’s Note

From the mid to late twentieth century, space travel transformed our collective perception of the world.

It’s no secret that things have changed since then and journeys into space are now increasingly reserved for the impossibly rich and privileged few. But in Dr Sally Ride’s time, space travel generated a global buzz of excitement and a feeling of huge cultural change – a moment that’s captured impeccably by Cristina Costantini’s biographical documentary of Ride’s life and pioneering career.

Sally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, awarded each year to exemplary films that merge art and science.

– Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)