'SALLY' at Sundance: NatGeo film to reveal 'hidden love' of 1st US woman in space (2025)

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

"SALLY," from National Geographic and director Cristina Costantini, reveals the legacy of NASA astronaut Sally Ride. Featuring archival footage filmed both on the ground and in space, along with new interviews with Ride's close friends and colleagues, the documentary allows access to the "real Ride," who struggled with the "limits and sacrifices true heroism demands."

"'SALLY' is the story of pioneering astronaut Sally Ride, who was the first American woman to go to space. And it's also a love story about her 27-year-long romance with Tam O'Shaughnessy, which was hidden from the public until the day she died," said Costantini in an interview for the Sundance Institute. "Sally, like so many famous people, hurt those closest to her for the benefit of people she'll never meet."

"It took a lot of bravery to launch into space, and it takes an immense amount of bravery to love who you love, even if culture is not ready to accept you for that at the time," said Constantini.

Related: Sally Ride: 1st American woman in space

After leaving NASA, Ride served as a physics professor and, with O'Shaughnessy, co-founded Sally Ride Science, a nonprofit organization to motivate young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Ride died of pancreatic cancer in 2012 at the age of 61.

Narrated by O'Shaughnessy and featuring tennis star Billie Jean King together with astronauts Anna Lee Fisher and Kathy Sullivan, "SALLY" has already been recognized for its profile of Ride as a scientist and individual. The film has been named the winner of the 2025 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, a juried award granted for the most outstanding depiction of science and technology in a feature-length film shown at Sundance.

"SALLY" is among the 87 feature films that will screen at the Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah festival from Jan. 23 through Feb. 2. The film will also be available to stream online from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, for audiences across the country. Tickets will go on sale Jan. 16.

"Sally Ride was a bold pioneer whose legacy continues to inspire new generations of astronauts, scientists and dreamers. This documentary will be a tribute to her accomplishments and a testament to the importance of diversity and inclusion in scientific exploration," said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president of scripted content and documentary films for National Geographic, in a statement.

An Emmy Award-winning director, Costantini began her career as an investigative journalist. Her first film, "Science Fair," which won the Sundance Festival Favorite Award in 2018, was turned into a series for National Geographic. Her second documentary, "Mucho Mucho Amor," about the life of astrologer Walter Mercado, was acquired by Netflix.

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"Cristina Costantini is the perfect filmmaker to tell Sally Ride's story," said Bernstein. "Her passion for science and film and dedication to women's equality bring depth and ethos to the project. We are thrilled to collaborate with her, Story Syndicate and Muck Media once again on this momentous project."

Costantini said that it was a "great privilege to be able to celebrate a love story that couldn't be told at the time."

"I can't wait to share 'SALLY,'" she said.

Robert Z. Pearlman

collectSPACE.com Editor, Space.com Contributor

Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, an online publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018. He previously developed online content for the National Space Society and Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, helped establish the space tourism company Space Adventures and currently serves on the History Committee of the American Astronautical Society, the advisory committee for The Mars Generation and leadership board of For All Moonkind. In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History.