First Trailer for ‘Spacewoman’ Doc on NASA Astronaut Eileen Collins

First Trailer for ‘Spacewoman’ Doc on NASA Astronaut Eileen Collins

by Alex Billington
March 10, 2025
Source: YouTube

“As astronauts, we live on the edge of danger.” Screen Daily has debuted a trailer for the documentary film titled Spacewoman, profiling the life & career of NASA astronaut / Space Shuttle pilot Eileen Collins. This is another double doc – another film just premiered at Sundance recently called Sally, about the NASA astronaut Sally Ride who was the first American woman in space. Spacewoman explores the achievements of Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot & command a spacecraft (in 1995 on the STS-63 mission), paving the way for the next generation of female space explorers. A cosmic portrait of the first female astronaut to pilot a space shuttle mission. Eileen Collins broke the glass ceiling all the way into space, and is a riveting storyteller of her own incredible story in this fascinating doc. She narrates her story offering unique insight into the overlooked psychological dimension of astronaut life and the unimaginable pressures that come with it – and the need to keep a cool head even in the most incredible situations. “A small step for a woman, a giant leap for womankind.” This film is playing at the CPH:DOX Film Festival next, but has no release date confirmed yet. Looks inspiring & empowering! Space geeks definitely need to keep this film on their radar.

Here’s the first promo trailer (+ poster) for Hannah Berryman’s doc Spacewoman, via Screen’s YouTube:

Intro from CPH:DOX: “Astronaut Eileen Collins made history twice. The first time when she arrived at NASA as a pilot at a time when there were almost no women in this elite field, and the second time when she became the first woman to pilot & command a space shuttle mission (in 1995). Collins was born in the 1960s into a working class family without privilege. Since childhood she dreamed of the skies, and with her positive & deeply sympathetic personality, she worked her way up from mediocre student to national hero. Only 9 months after seeing her first sunrise over the Earth, she gives birth to her first child. Through video calls from the International Space Station, she sings Soviet cosmonaut anthems like lullabies and defines a new kind of motherhood: the galactic kind.” Spacewoman is directed by doc filmmaker Hannah Berryman, director of the docs Miss World 1970: Beauty Queens and Bedlam and Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm previously, plus other TV projects. Produced by Keith Haviland and Natasha Dack Ojumu. This initially premiered at the 2024 DOC NYC Film Festival last fall. It’s next playing at the Athena Film Festival and CPH:DOX in Copenhagen this month. No US release date has been set yet – stay tuned for any updates.

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