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Lydia Lassila and Katie Bender.

Katie Bender's documentary about aerial skier Lydia Lassila premiered last Tuesday.

The event was organised by Bender herself, a former teammate of Lassila.

"One of the biggest nightmares [of being independent] is not having a marketing team, doing events, managing the event sponsors", said Bender. "It takes up so much time".

In the making since 2012, The Will to Fly was rejected by Australian distributors as a niche film about aerial skiing.

After the film was locked, it was picked up by Hoyts this month..

Bender also had a preexisting relationship with Rebel Sport, and the two have now joined forces.

"Hoyts is now placing this film in all of the big malls around Australia that have Rebel stores and a Hoyts, so they can do cross-promotions together", Bender said.

The filmmaker has also enlisted Kpmg, who "are taking my film, similar to the educational study guide, and...

First-time filmmaker and former.aerial skier.Katie Bender tells If about bringing the story of Lydia Lassila to the screen.

"I looked up to Lydia from when I was 13 as a young gymnast. She was a few years my senior, and when I won a competition at her local gymnastics club she put a medal around my neck. At the time she had won national championships, and she became an inspiration for me".

"A couple of years later, she moved to my gym club and we started training in the same squad. So when she transitioned into aerial skiing, it planted a seed. We were very similar types of gymnast - only a certain breed goes into a sport like aerial skiing"..

"I ended up training with her on the Australian aerial ski team. There were about ten of us for the best part of seven years. She was again my senior,...