Flyabout
Monika Petrillo has never been one to postpone her dreams. So at 24, she decided to get a pilot’s license. A year later, her father surprised her by learning to fly as well. Together, they took off to circumnavigate the continent of Australia.
The only woman pilot in a group of 11 people, Monika experienced the true freedom of flight above one of the most untouched places on earth. As she became exposed to Australian culture, she learned about the Walkabout, a spiritual journey the Aborigines have valued for tens of thousands of years. That inspired her to use this trip to take stock of her own spirituality. The first step toward that end was to relax. But that proved much more difficult than she thought: a tight schedule, careful and constant maintenance of the aircraft, pot-holed dirt runways, mechanical failures, sudden loss of visibility and unpredictable crosswinds kept her both too busy and uptight. But what impacted her most was the conflict that arose between her and her father.
“Flyabout” is an intimate, personal story about a pilot’s journey around Australia. It is the story of a young woman growing into an adult and coming to grips with how generational roles change over time.
From the Director of ‘Flyabout’
Why search around for a narrative idea when I’m about to depart on this literally once-in-a-lifetime journey myself?
