The Flight of the Gossamer Condor

Last updated

The Flight of the Gossamer Condor
Directed by Ben Shedd
Produced byJacqueline Phillips Shedd
Ben Shedd
Starring Bryan Allen
Cinematography Boyd Estus
Edited byBen Shedd
Distributed by Churchill Films
Release date
  • 1978 (1978)
Running time
27 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Flight of the Gossamer Condor is a 1978 American short documentary film directed by Ben Shedd, about the development of the Gossamer Condor, the first human-powered aircraft, by a team led by Paul MacCready. The Academy Film Archive preserved The Flight of the Gossamer Condor in 2007. [1]

Contents

Reception

In the education magazine Media & Methods, David Mallery called Flight of the Gossamer Condor "a film or extraordinary appeal", writing that "the Shedds' most subtle achievement - least flashy, most serving to their subject - is that we are thoroughly caught up in the work of the MacCready group, are intimately a part of their struggles, their determination, their energy." Mallery concludes "It's a joyous experience. I recommend it with special enthusiasm." [2]

The Flight of the Gossamer Condor won an Oscars at the 51st Academy Awards in 1979 for Documentary Short Subject. [3] [4]

Cast

Related Research Articles

MacCready <i>Gossamer Albatross</i> Human-powered aircraft developed by American aeronautics company AeroVironment

The Gossamer Albatross is a human-powered aircraft built by American aeronautical engineer Dr Paul B MacCready's company AeroVironment. On June 12, 1979, it completed a successful crossing of the English Channel to win the second Kremer prize worth £100,000.

MacCready <i>Gossamer Condor</i> First human-powered aircraft

The MacCready Gossamer Condor was the first human-powered aircraft capable of controlled and sustained flight; as such, it won the Kremer prize in 1977. Its design was led by Paul MacCready of AeroVironment, Inc.

Gossamer most commonly refers to:

The Kremer prizes are a series of monetary awards, established in 1959 by the industrialist Henry Kremer.

Paul MacCready American aeronautical engineer

Paul B. MacCready Jr. was an American aeronautical engineer. He was the founder of AeroVironment and the designer of the human-powered aircraft that won the first Kremer prize. He devoted his life to developing more efficient transportation vehicles that could "do more with less".

Charles Eli Guggenheim was an American documentary film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was the most honored documentary filmmaker in the academy history, winning four Oscars from twelve nominations.

51st Academy Awards Award ceremony for films of 1978

The 51st Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1978 and took place on April 9, 1979, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 7:00 p.m. PST / 10:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 22 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Jack Haley Jr. and directed by Marty Pasetta. Comedian and talk show host Johnny Carson hosted the show for the first time. Three days earlier in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by hosts Gregory Peck and Christopher Reeve.

Ben Shedd is an American director, producer, and writer of film and video. He shared the 1978 Academy Award for Documentary

MacCready Solar Challenger Type of aircraft

The Solar Challenger was a solar-powered electric aircraft designed by Paul MacCready's AeroVironment. The aircraft was designed as an improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, which in turn was a solar-powered variant of the human-powered Gossamer Albatross. It was powered entirely by the photovoltaic cells on its wing and stabilizer, without even reserve batteries, and was the first such craft capable of long-distance flight. In 1981, it successfully completed a 163-mile (262 km) demonstration flight from France to England.

Wings over Everest is a 1934 British short documentary film directed by Geoffrey Barkas and Ivor Montagu. It won an Academy Award in 1936 for Best Short Subject (Novelty). It described the 1933 Houston-Mount Everest flight expedition, in which Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, otherwise known as Lord Clydesdale, piloted a single-engined biplane on 3 April 1933, just clearing Everest's southern peak by a few feet, having been caught in a powerful downdraught. The film used mixture of real footage of Everest from the record-breaking flight and theatrically produced scenes using the actual people rather than actors.

Casals Conducts: 1964 is a 1964 American short film directed by Larry Sturhahn. It is a documentary about the cellist and conductor Pablo Casals. It won an Oscar at the 37th Academy Awards in 1965 for Best Short Subject. The Academy Film Archive preserved Casals Conducts: 1964 in 2013.

Robert Kennedy Remembered is a 1968 American short documentary film produced and directed by Charles Guggenheim. In 1969, it won an Oscar for Best Short Subject at the 41st Academy Awards.

<i>First Steps</i> (1947 film) 1947 film

First Steps is a 1947 short documentary film about the treatment of children with disabilities. Produced for the Department of Social Affairs of the United Nations by Frederic House Inc., the film was distributed by the National Film Board of Canada. First Steps, directed by Leo Seltzer, won the Documentary Short Subject Oscar at the 20th Academy Awards in 1948 for the United Nations Division of Films and Visual Education.

<i>So Much for So Little</i> 1949 film

So Much for So Little is a 1949 American animated short documentary film directed by Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng. In 1950, it won an Oscar at the 22nd Academy Awards for Documentary Short Subject, tying with A Chance to Live. It was created by Warner Bros. Cartoons for the United States Public Health Service. As a work of the United States Government, the film is in the public domain. The Academy Film Archive preserved So Much for So Little in 2005. Produced during the Harry S. Truman administration, it attained renewed relevance during the modern Medicare for All movement in the United States nearly seven decades later.

<i>Thursdays Children</i> 1954 film

Thursday's Children is a 1954 British short documentary film directed by Guy Brenton and Lindsay Anderson about The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, Kent, UK, a residential school then teaching lip reading rather than sign language. Apart from music and narration, the film is nearly silent and focuses on the faces and gestures of the little boys and girls. It features methods and goals not now used, and notes that only one child in three will achieve true speech. Filmmakers Lindsay Anderson and Guy Brenton were unable to gain distribution for the film until it won an Oscar in 1955 for Documentary Short Subject. The Academy Film Archive preserved Thursday's Children in 2005.

Number Our Days is a 1976 American short documentary film about a community of elderly Jews in Venice, California. It was directed by Lynne Littman and aired on KCET's news show 28 Tonight. The Academy Film Archive preserved Number Our Days in 2007.

Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist is a 1979 American short documentary film directed by Saul J. Turell. In 1980, it won an Oscar at the 52nd Academy Awards for Documentary Short Subject. It was released alongside Robeson's other films on a Criterion Collection box set in 2007.

The Stone Carvers is a 1984 American short documentary film directed by Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner and starring Vincent Palumbo and Roger Morigi. In 1985, it won an Oscar for Documentary Short Subject at the 57th Academy Awards.

The Divided Trail: A Native American Odyssey is a 1978 American short documentary film directed by Jerry Aronson. It was nominated in 1978 for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. It lost to The Flight of the Gossamer Condor.

Human-powered aircraft

A human-powered aircraft (HPA) is an aircraft belonging to the class of vehicles known as human-powered transport.

References

  1. "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  2. Mallery, David (September 1979). "Gossamer Condor: A Film to Set You Soaring". Media and Methods. Vol. 16. pp. 46–48.
  3. "The 51st Academy Awards (1979) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  4. "New York Times: The Flight of the Gossamer Condor". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2008.