Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee native Cristina Costantini brings Sally Ride's story to the big screen
MILWAUKEE — Documentarian Cristina Costantini has been inspired by pioneering astronaut Sally Ride since childhood.
In 2023, the stars aligned as she collaborated with National Geographic Documentary Films, Story Syndicate, and Muck Media to create a film exploring both the public and private aspects of Ride’s life—a side of her that many only discovered after her passing in 2012. Tam O’Shaughnessy, Ride’s partner of 27 years, steps into the spotlight in this 1 hour and 43-minute film to reveal the Sally Ride that many were unaware of.
Watch: Milwaukee native Cristina Costantini brings Sally Ride’s story to the big screen
Milwaukee native directs opening film for the 2025 Milwaukee Film Festival
Here is an excerpt from a conversation that Milwaukee Tonight host Shannon Sims had with Costantini in the very theater where she grew up watching documentaries—the Oriental Theater.
Shannon: “Cristina, having come off a successful run at Sundance to come home to open the film festival. How does it feel? “
Cristina: “This means the world to me to be here, to be in this theater, this is where I grew up, seeing all of the films that made me want to be a filmmaker. So it’s really a homecoming for me.”
Shannon: “What drew you to this story ?”
Cristina: ” I’ve been a huge fan of Sally since I was a little girl….I think it was simply, you know, seeing a woman in space jumpsuit, breaking the highest glass ceiling. There was something just symbolic and powerful to me. If she could do it, I’m a girl, maybe I can do big things too. I went to Golda Meir Elementary, and if you drive by on Martin Luther King, You can see there is a there’s a little Sally Ride, looking at a shuttle. And I painted that when I was in third or fourth grade, and it’s crazy that it’s still there .
“I’ve been obsessed with her for a long time, but when she passed away in 2012, I learned with the rest of the world that she was survived by her female life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy. And I started to think at that point, you know, wow, you know, NASA was barely ready for a woman. They definitely would not have been ready for this. What was that internal struggle? And so I started to get really interested in the more interesting story of who the true Sally Ride was.”
Shannon: “What were some of the challenges in making this film, even with all of that archival video?”
Cristina: “We brought in 5000 reels from NASA, and then we had to sound sync it. All the audio was in a different building, and all the reels were in different buildings, no good system to sync them.”
Shannon: “So I read that you started out as an investigative reporter. What was it about documentary filmmaking that drew you to make the transition? “
Cristina: “I was an investigative reporter at ABC and Univision, and I really that I that’s where I picked up a camera. That’s where I learned how to tell a story, and also all the skills that go into filmmaking. You learn making news…..I grew up watching documentaries here in this theater. And I, you know, I really see them as empathy machines. They they show us what other people’s lives are like. They teach us things we could never have known, or take us to worlds we could never visit.
So I hope people you know gain empathy for this woman, Sally, and for the experiences that people who live in the shadows, or people who have had to hide something experience in their day to day.”
Digital Exclusive: Tam O’Shaughnessy, Sally Ride’s life partner talks about the premiere of ‘Sally’
Tam O’Shaughnessy talks about the new Sally Ride documentary
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MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Police Department requested the public’s help to find 11-year-old Sir’Charles Bason, a critically missing boy who was last seen near Teutonia and Kiley at around 6:20 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.
Police described Bason as 4 feet, 5 inches tall with a slim build, brown eyes and black, low-cut hair. He was last seen wearing a gray jacket with green lines, dark-colored jeans, tan sandals and carrying gray Nike Jordan shoes.
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What you can do:
Anyone with information on Bason’s whereabouts is asked to call Milwaukee Police District 4 at 414-935-7242.
The Source: The Milwaukee Police Department released information.
MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man, previously named one of Wisconsin’s Most Wanted, has been sentenced to prison for shooting and killing his cousin in 2020.
In court
What we know:
A Milwaukee County jury found 39-year-old Brandon Gladney guilty of first-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firm by a felon earlier this year.
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Judge Michelle Havas sentenced Gladney to 29 years in prison on Friday, April 17. He was granted credit for more than a year’s time served and further sentenced to 14 years of extended supervision.
Arrested in Arizona after years on the run, court records show Gladney has also been ordered to pay the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office more than $1,800 for extradition costs.
Homicide investigation
The backstory:
The shooting happened in May 2020. Investigators said Gladney was captured on video apparently arguing with the victim, his cousin, outside a Milwaukee convenience store near 21st and Meinecke.
“It’s all on video, and it’s devastating for that family,” the marshal on the case told FOX6 when Gladney was profiled on Wisconsin’s Most Wanted. “You have a family member that shot and killed another family member.”
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Prosecutors said Gladney walked away but then returned with a gun pointed directly at the victim and shot him. The victim died from his gunshot wounds at a nearby hospital. Multiple bullet casings were found at the scene.
Gladney went on the run for years. He was arrested in Arizona in January 2023, years after he was charged.
The Source: FOX6 News referenced information from the U.S. Marshals Service, Wisconsin Circuit Court and prior coverage.
Brice Turang slides to home plate to score during a game between the Miami Marlins and the Milwaukee Brewers on April 17. (Photo by Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MIAMI – Garrett Mitchell went 2 for 4 with three RBIs including a two-run double in the 10th inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 7-5 on Friday night.
By the numbers:
Miami’s Calvin Faucher (1-2) entered a 4-all game in the 10th and walked Gary Sánchez with Brice Turang on second. Jake Bauers hit a single to load the bases.
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Luis Rengifo reached first on a throwing error by second baseman Xavier Edwards, allowing Turang to score. Mitchell followed with his double.
The Marlins scored one run in the bottom of the 10th when Jakob Marsee came home on Trevor Megill’s wild pitch. Megill settled in for his fourth save.
Coleman Crow, who made his debut on the mound for the Brewers, threw 77 pitches over 5 1/3 innings. He threw four strikeouts, gave up two earned runs and a walk.
The right-hander was 2-0 with a 4.07 ERA in two starts with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. He missed part of the 2023 season and all of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The Brewers scored three runs in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded, Mitchell hit an RBI single, Bauers scored on a forceout at first and Rengifo scored on a throwing error by catcher Agustín Ramírez.
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Miami’s Otto Lopez hit a triple to center field in the fourth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Owen Caissie. Lopez hit a two-run homer in the sixth to pull Miami within 4-3 and Ramírez doubled in the eighth to tie the game at four.
Abner Uribe (1-0) earned his first win of the season, coming on in the ninth inning.
Marlins third baseman Graham Pauley left the game in the seventh inning with right oblique discomfort after spinning out of the way of a pitch.
What’s next:
The Brewers and Marlins continue their 3-game series on Saturday, with Brandon Woodruff (1-0, 4.36 ERA) taking the mound for Milwaukee and Sandy Alcantara (2-1, 2.67) for Miami.
The Source: The Associated Press provided this report.
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