Amelia Earhart: Behind the postage stamp

Even though she’s battling a cold, director Mira Nair (“Monsoon Wedding,” “Salaam Bombay!”) can actually get us excited to sit through a movie about Amelia Earhart. “I was very interested in that seesaw between her own ecstasy in the sky and the responsibility she had on the earth,” she says so eloquently of her new film, “Amelia.”

You’ve made so many movies with strong female leads — is that a prerequisite?

Well, I have to get inspired by what I do, otherwise it’s too much work. But Amelia continues to inspire because she refused to accept the boundaries that were given to women, especially in the ’20s and the ’30s. And I love that Kansas-plain-speaking, lack of fanciness about her goals and her dreams. ‘I fly for the fun of it,’ she used to say.  

Why make a movie about Amelia Earhart now?

Amelia was a beacon of hope in the Depression when America was brought to its knees by the economy. And we are very much living in that type of time in the American world now. We are all looking for heroes, and for people to show us the way out. I think that people know about Amelia, but it will be good to revisit her and to really find out who that throbbing heart is, beyond the postage stamp, beyond the icon. So that we keep, I hope, aspiring to pushing ourselves to greater things.

What is one thing that you take away from her?

Amelia has given us the ability to say, “Hey! Recognize your dream and focus on it. Go for it. Life is short, embrace it fully. Be useful to the world. But don’t forget that which makes you ecstatic.”