First Trailer for ‘Learning to Fly’ Doc Film About Runners & Marathons
by Alex Billington
September 1, 2025
Source: YouTube
“There does seem to be some common thread with ultra runners…” Unreasonable Studios has debuted the first official trailer for a documentary film called Learning to Fly, made by filmmaker Max Lowe as his second feature film. This just premiered at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival – hence why this trailer is out now. A doc on running! A former competitive runner turned photographer goes on a journey to document the world’s toughest ultra marathons, confronting her complex past & reclaiming her love of racing, as she captures the triumphs & struggles of some of the world’s best endurance runners. “On its face, it might be hard to understand why someone would push themselves to run grueling 100-mile trail races, through the night and up and down thousands of feet of mountain trails. Throughout the journey of documenting these elite athletes in competition, watching their failures & triumphs… seeing the community they’ve built by the process of pushing the unknown, Aisha starts to reclaim not only her love of the sport but also her belief in her own ability to confront her idea of impossible within her interpretation of the sport.” See below.
Here’s the first official trailer (+ poster) for Max Lowe’s doc Learning to Fly, direct from YouTube:
Learning to Fly follows former competitive runner turned photographer Aisha McAdams embarking on a journey to document the triumphs and struggles of some of the biggest names in ultra running, such as Jim Walmsley and Eszter Csillag, as they compete at the Western States Endurance Run in the Mountains of Eastern California and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) in the French Alps. While photographing and interviewing these elite runners, Aisha confronts her own painful and complex past, and the reasons why she had to step away from racing, a meaningful pursuit that had once brought her a much-needed sense of freedom, joy and belonging. Learning to Fly is directed by acclaimed doc filmmaker Max Lowe, director of the doc film Torn previously, plus the acclaimed short doc Camp Courage. It’s produced by Katy Chevigny, Evan Hayes, and Ayesha Rokadia. This just premiered at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival and will play at other festivals later this year. No release date is set yet – stay tuned for updates. Anyone interested?
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