NatGeo film to reveal ‘hidden love’ of Sally Ride, 1st US woman in space

A new documentary about the life and loves of America’s first woman in space will premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

“Sally” from National Geographic Director Cristina Costantini reveals NASA astronaut’s legacy Sally Ryder. Featuring archival footage shot on the ground and in space, as well as new interviews with Ride’s close friends and colleagues, the documentary offers a look at the “real Ride” as he grappled with “the limitations and sacrifices that true heroism demands.” struggle.

“Sally tells the story of Sally Ride, a pioneering astronaut who First American woman in space. This is also the love story between her and her boyfriend for 27 years Tam O’Shaughnessy“It was hidden from the public until the day she died,” Costantini said in an interview with the Sundance Institute. “Sally, like many celebrities, harmed her most for the benefit of those she would never meet. People close to you.

“It takes a lot of courage to launch into space, and it takes a lot of courage to love the people you love, even if the culture isn’t ready to accept you at the time,” Constantini said.

Before joining NASA’s astronaut team in 1978, Ryder was a physicist and nationally ranked junior tennis player. one of the First six American women trained During a space flight, Ride helped deploy two satellites on NASA’s seventh satellite space shuttle mission and conducted Earth observations during the program’s 13th flight.

Related: Sally Ride: First American woman in space

After leaving NASA, Ride served as a professor of physics and co-founded Sally Ride Science with O’Shaughnessy, a nonprofit organization that inspires young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Ryder dies of pancreatic cancer 2012, 61 years old.

Narrated by O’Shaughnessy and starring tennis star Billie Jean King and astronauts Anna Lee Fisher and Kathy Sullivan, “Sally” has already become known for its portrayal of Ryder as Gain recognition for the image of scientists and individuals. The film won the 2025 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Award, which honors the best depictions of technology in a feature film screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

“Sally” is one of 87 upcoming feature films Park City and Salt Lake City Music Festivals in Utah January 23rd to February 2nd. Tickets will go on sale January 16th.

“Sally Ride was a bold pioneer whose legacy continues to inspire new generations of astronauts, scientists and dreamers. This documentary will pay tribute to her achievements and demonstrate diversity and inclusion Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president of scripted content and documentaries at National Geographic, said, in a statement.

Costantini is an Emmy Award-winning director who began her career as an investigative journalist. Her first film, Science Fair, won the Favorite Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was adapted into a National Geographic series. Her second documentary, Mucho Mucho Amor, about the life of astrologer Walter Mercado, was acquired by Netflix.