Sport is more than just a game – it’s a reflection of life – and the story behind Australia’s women’s football team, Trailblazers, reflects the way gender inequity still dominates the world.
For filmmaker Maggie Eudes, the story is personal. She grew up in France with a passion for the game, which was met with stereotypical comments about football being a male sport.
“I was obsessed with football when I was a kid, but I never joined a club until I was 19 – that was my experience,” says Eudes, who is also producer-writer-director and cinematographer of the documentary.
Trailblazers features interviews with modern-day stars such as Sam Kerr, as well as the many alumni who forged the Matilda’s path to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 held in Australia and New Zealand last year.
Players in the early days had to pay-to-play the game and just before the Sydney Olympics in 2000, a Matildas’ nude calendar was published to raise funds and the sport’s profile. But things barely improved over the intervening years and by 2015, players successfully went on strike for two months to improve pay and conditions.
“I think us capturing those different generations and them sharing their experiences and similarities and improvements – that’s the richness of the film. That’s the part I actually enjoyed the most.”
Trailblazers is not just about female athletes – it was made by an all-female team including producer-writer-director Maggie Miles, producer Lucy Maclaren, editor Sara Edwards, and executive producers Caitriona Fay and Kate Gill; and Cailah Scobie and Alicia Brown (Stan).
The record success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup masks the journey for equality.
More than 11 million people watched the Matildas’ games live on TV, and a record-breaking 75,000 spectators attended the final where Spain defeated England. Yet even that triumph was marred when the former Spanish soccer federation president, Luis Rubiales, unwantedly kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the awards ceremony.
Trailblazers is first and foremost a powerful documentary, according to producer-writer-director Maggie Miles, but it will continue to play a role in changing gender stereotypes and attitudes.
“There’s a number of impact partners and work that is happening around the release of the film to achieve our impact goals, which is to correct the record, realign the statistics, be visible, support, educate, and a whole bunch of other things. It was always a really integral part of the project strategy.”
The filmmakers worked with Documentary Australia to create the impact campaign, which was also supported by key funders MECCA M-POWER, Screen Australia and VicScreen. Equity Trustees also helped fund the film’s school resources program, created by Cool.org, which includes 15 lessons for students about gender equality, media bias, and representation reflected in the Matildas’ journey.
Trailblazers will premiere on Stan on June 4: https://trailblazersfilm.com.au.
Disclosure: The author, Brendan Swift, also produces content for Equity Trustees.