This Is Roller Derby is a 2011 Australian documentary film by Daniel Hayward on four Australian roller derby teams over the course of a season.

This Is Roller Derby
Directed byDaniel Hayward
Written byDaniel Hayward
StarringApril Ritzenthaler
Production
company
Aisle 5 Pictures
Distributed byTitan View
Release date
  • 11 October 2011 (2011-10-11)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

The film features members from roller derby associations from Australia and the United States, primarily the Ballarat Roller Derby League.[1][2] The DVD for the film released on 20 February 2013.

Synopsis

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The film follows four Australian roller derby leagues, Ballarat Roller Derby League, Adelaide Roller Derby, Canberra Roller Derby League and Geelong Roller Derby League, over the course of twelve months, and documents the start of roller derby in Australia and overseas.[3]

Cast and crew

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The film was directed by Daniel Hayward and features members from the Ballarat Roller Derby League and members from US leagues, particularly Texas Rollergirls and TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls.

Some featured Roller Derby skaters include:

  • April Ritzenthaler (Narrator)
  • Katrina "Mad Mac" MacDonald
  • Haylee "Seven Lux" Hartley
  • Rebekah "Apocalypse Nerd" Bailey
  • Sarah "Barrelhouse Bessy" Strong-Law
  • Nadia "Smartypants" Keane
  • Michelle "Miss Hellfire" Murrel
  • Kim "Jelli Knight" Adams

Reception

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Filmink gave a positive review for This Is Roller Derby, calling it a "gutsy and eye-opening insight into a sport on the rise and the world around it."[4] SBS gave a mixed review for the film, saying that while the first half of the film has "genuine energy", that "in driving his material towards a feature-length running time of 80-odd minutes, Hayward steers into a cul-de-sac, showing longer extracts of the action from tournaments rather than digger deeper into some of the personal stories."[5]

References

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  1. ^ "'This is Roller Derby' Trying to Roll to Austin". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  2. ^ "This Is Roller Derby". Beat Magazine. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  3. ^ "This is Roller Derby NO REALLY..." Empire Online. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Review: This is Roller Derby". Filmink. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Intriguing premise ends up going in circles". SBS.com.au. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
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