The Flying Ace – Queen Bess Centennial Aviation Arts Festival hosted by the Advanced Air Mobility Institute

The Flying Ace (1926) – Queen Bess Centennial Aviation Arts Festival hosted by the Advanced Air Mobility Institute

Wednesday April 29, 7pm at Circle Cinema – Tickets on sale now, $10 each

Circle Cinema is proud to partner with the Queen Bess Centennial Aviation Arts Festival for this special presentation on Wednesday April 29. Visit QueenBess100.com for the full lineup of events happening at Langston University on Thursday April 30. This new annual festival celebrates the life and legacy of Bessie Coleman, an early aviation pioneer who attended Langston University in 1910. Bessie made history as the first African-American woman and the first Native American to hold a pilots license. Bessie became famous as ‘Queen Bess’ performing in air shows across the US. Bessie tragically died in a plane crash preparing for a show in 1926, but her fearless attitude and love of aviation would inspire many others in the African-American and Native American communities to pursue careers in aviation. The inaugural festival is hosted by the Advanced Air Mobility Institute. 

The screening at Circle Cinema on Wednesday April 29, 7pm will feature the 1926 silent film “The Flying Ace,” which was partly inspired by Bessie’s work and features an all African-American cast. Organist Bill Rowland will play a live, improvised score to the film on Circle’s 1928 theater pipe organ for attendees to experience the movie just as audiences would have in 1926. Tickets for the screening are $10 each. The festivities will continue on Thursday April 30, beginning at 9am at Langston University with Mayor Monroe Nichols proclaiming the date as ‘Bessie Coleman Day.’ Visit QueenBess100.com for the full schedule of Thursday events and details.

About the film: 1h5min – Silent, Action, Adventure – Not Rated

Originally released in 1926, “The Flying Ace” was a blockbuster production featuring an all African-American cast. Bessie Coleman’s flying inspired elements of the film, with the character Ruth Sawtelle loosely based on Bessie. Bessie had been in talks to appear in the film herself before her passing shortly before production on the film began. The film was selected for preservation by the library of congress in 2021. In the film, A WWI fighter pilot returns to his former job as a railroad detective, and must recover a satchel filled with $25,000 of stolen payroll, locate a missing employee, and capture the gang of thieves responsible.