Screen Australia: Roller Derby Dolls

PREMIERES TUESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER, 8PM ON ABC1

In the sprawling outer suburbs of Brisbane, a revolution is brewing. A sassy group of women from all walks of life has a dream: to resurrect the lost sport of full-contact roller derby in Australia.

Led by their president Evil Doll, and despite none having experience in business, the roller girls have set up a roller derby league, one of 220 now dotted around the globe.

Born in the United States in the 1920s, full-contact roller derby took off around the world before fading into obscurity in the 1980s. Thirty years later, it has sprung up again, driven by the passion of suburban women: nurses, artists, tattooists and driving instructors—wives and mothers by day, hell on wheels at night.

Many are heavily tattooed and pierced, living lifestyles out of step with mainstream society. They are rebels, misfits, rockabillies and punks. But on the rink they are a team, setting aside their daily lives, adopting derby names such as Doris Daynger and Nicky Knockout and wearing fishnet stockings, hotpants, striped socks, corsets and studded belts.

Roller Derby Dolls is a story of female empowerment, friendship and struggles—all on old-school roller skates.

A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Freshwater Productions and the Pacific Film and Television Commission. Produced in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Click to see production stills