In 1969, while Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins captured the world’s attention with their trip to the moon, another historic event occurred: Turi Widerøe became the first female pilot of a major commercial airline in the Western world. His story has been turned into the short film “Breaking Glass”, signed by the Spanish production company Antistatic for Scandinavian Airlines.
The piece, eight minutes long, has been directed and written by Nicolas Bori and presents the experience of the aviator, as well as that of other colleagues, and that of the company as the first to hire a female pilot. It is a story about challenging gender restrictions in aviation and a tribute to all those pioneers who broke glass ceilings.
Here you can see the trailer for “Breaking Glass”:
The short film was filmed in Sweden and Germany, between the end of last year and the first half of 2024. From the production company, which has shared details of the work in a statement, they assure that it is “not only a powerful piece of cinema, but also an extraordinary production achievement”.
According to what they say, one of the main challenges has been the recreation of the atmosphere of the 50s and 60sespecially complex in aviation scenes. For filming, they have used old airplanes owned by collectors, which provides extra authenticity to the narrative, and they have used visual effects, such as chroma key screens, cameras mounted on the airplanes, and helicopter flights.
The setting of the story has been a key point for the result. After an exhaustive search they located – in Passau, Germany – the only functional cabin of a first generation commercial jet airliner, used to film the takeoff scene in the middle of a storm.
In terms of production, they also highlight the possibility of accessing one of the two iconic DC3 aircraft still operational in Europe, which retain the original paint and colors of the Scandinavian airline.
They have also been able to access the last operational Caravelle Jet in the world, parked at Stockholm International Airport. There they recorded the original engine sounds and made 3D scans to give life to the takeoff sequence in CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery), developed by Behind Studios in London.
From Antistatic they report that it has been a challenging and complex work, but from which they have achieved a notable result. Thus, they highlight the formation takeoff of four vintage aircraft as one of the most spectacular moments of the production, noting that it was “a feat that required exceptional precision and coordination”.
As you have seen reason.WhyScandinavian Airlines has not shared, at least for now, the short film on its official channels. The production company tells us that they are strategically showing it in internal events and other activations.
The short film has already been filmed on the festival circuit and has achieved some recognition. Among them, in the Advertisements and Branded Content section in the Berlin Commercial Festivalor in the Young Director Awards for Nicolás Bori in the category of less than 10 minutes.

Here you can see the full short film: