Learning to Fly (2026)
Director: Max Lowe
Cast: Aisha McAdams, Jim Walmsley, Rod Farvard, Eszter Csillag
Ex-olympic track star turned lenswoman Aisha McAdams trades her racing flats for a camera, diving headfirst into the brutal, breathtaking world of elite ultra-trail running. She trails legends like Jim Walmsley and Eszter Csillag through the sport’s most hallowed ground—from the bone-dry canyons of California’s Western States Endurance Run to the jagged, cloud-scraping passes of the French Alps’ Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. This is a raw, awe-struck look at what it takes to push 100 unforgiving miles of mountain rock and vertical sky, where every heartbeat is a war cry and every summit a small miracle.
More About This Film
Learning to Fly is a ten-minute American short comedy-drama about Finn, an aviation enthusiast who inexplicably levitated as a child and becomes determined to reproduce the experience. His fascination turns into a personal experiment in which the boundary between childhood wonder and adult obsession begins to blur.
Nolan Walley writes and directs the short, using a fantastical premise to explore persistence, memory, and the desire to recover something extraordinary from childhood. Asher Rigo and Mary Springer lead the compact cast.
- Directed and written by Nolan Walley.
- Asher Rigo plays Finn.
- Mary Springer plays Julia.
- The film has an estimated budget of approximately $2,500.
- Runtime is approximately ten minutes.
Where to Watch
Learning to Fly is an independent short film and is most likely to circulate through creator-led and festival video platforms.