Skip to Content
Poster for Butterfly in the Sky (2024)
Watch trailer for Butterfly in the Sky (2024) Watch trailer

Butterfly in the Sky (2024)

Opens on April 5

Director: Bradford Thomason, Brett Whitcomb Run Time: 87 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2024

Starring: LeVar Burton

Country: United States
Language: English

About the film:

World Premiere, 2022 Tribeca Film Festival

Butterfly in the Sky (2024) tells the story of the beloved PBS children’s series “Reading Rainbow,” its iconic host LeVar Burton, and the challenges its creators faced in cultivating a love of reading through television.

“a heartfelt, beautiful celebration of one of the most influential educational children’s programs to grace our television.”

—Ethan Anderton, Slashfilm

Two seconds into the bubbling synth sounds of its theme song will have a child of the 1980s or ’90s exclaiming “Reading Rainbow!” Such is the beloved nature of the classic children’s literary television show that introduced millions of kids to the wonder of books. Not only did the series insist on having kids speak to kids about their favorite stories, Reading Rainbow introduced the world to one of the most adored television hosts of all time, LeVar Burton. Thanks to his direct, non-patronizing and, most importantly, kind delivery, Burton became a conduit to learning for children of every background — delving behind the pages to the people, places, and things each new story explored.

About the filmmakers:

Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb are a filmmaking team with a catalog that oscillates between archive-rich nostalgic portraits of pop culture and observational snapshots of under-explored cultures. Their acclaimed film GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling premiered at Hot Docs Canadian Documentary Festival in 2012. A Life in Waves, which explores the life and career of electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani, premiered at SXSW in 2017. Their 2020 feature Jasper Mall, chronicling the day-to-day operations of a declining mall in Alabama, premiered at Slamdance. Their most recent feature, Butterfly in the Sky (2024) premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

See our upcoming films
MAJOR SUPPORT
Ohio Arts Council
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Columbus Foundation
Campus Partners
National Endowment for the Arts
WITH HELP FROM
WWCD Radio
G&J Pepsi
WOSU Public Media

Trailer

powered by Filmbot