Katie Bender

Katie Bender is an Australian documentary filmmaker - director & producer. She made her feature-length directing debut with the 2016 documentary The Will To Fly about Australian Olympic freestyle skier gold medalist Lydia Lassila. The film made its world premiere in Melbourne, Australia on International Women's Day (March 8), 2016 followed by an Australian theatrical release where it was positively received by critics. The film was quoted "The most inspirational movie of the year" by The Huffington Post. On December 4th, 2016, The Will To Fly was a part of the official selection to premiere in Canada at the Whistler Film Festival in British Columbia. Here Katie was nominated for 'Best Female-Directed Documentary Award', and The Will To Fly film received 'Best World Documentary Award' and 'Best Mountain Culture Film Award'.