By Kieran Yap 29/5/24
On June 4, a new documentary about the rise of women’s football in Australia will air on Stan. Impetus spoke to Maggie Miles and Maggie Eudes, the co-directors of Trailblazers about bringing this story to the screen.
In the afterglow of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and in the lead up to the Paris Olympics, much of the talk around women’s football has been about the future.
We live in exciting times. Australia’s women’s national team play in front of sold out crowds around the country, the players are household names, and a year on from the tournament, Matildas mania has not slowed.
But this has been the result of many years of work in relative anonymity compared to their male counterparts. The success of the present is only sweetened with knowledge of the past and a new documentary is set to appear on Stan ahead of the Paris games.
Trailblazers is produced by Savage Films and tells the story of the women who made this possible. The sacrifices on and off the pitch, and the struggle for equality. There is over 100 years of women’s football history and it’s all lead up to now.
Directed by Maggie Miles and Maggie Eudes, Trailblazers is set to not only hype up fans for an Olympic medal quest, but also provide important context of how the sport has climbed to the mountaintop of national prominence. The core theme is gender equality, something that The Matildas epitomize in their push for a fair pay deal and perhaps surpass in popularity.
“We we made a a really big decision at the beginning to talk to the players first,” says Miles of the genesis of the project.
“We had this idea that we wanted to tell at least part of the story of Australian women’s football if thr players wanted it told, and we were always keen on speaking with Matildas Alumni.
“They were all really, really keen, because we wanted to recognize the shoulders on whom the current team stand and the ones before them and the ones before them, and we feel that was very strongly our focus.”
Miles is an esteemed Australian filmmaker having brought films such as Paper Planes (2014) and High Ground (2020) to the screen. Widely known for producing works of fiction or drama, she has begun making documentaries. Trailblazers was partially inspired by her experience making Dare to be Different and embedding herself in a special needs school that taught through the arts.
“I loved working with the teachers, with the parents, with the students on that. I think developing stories from getting on the inside and getting to know people, getting to hear their stories and shape their stories but in a creative way is what Maggie and I have done.
“Of course, meeting Maggie (Eudes), who was also interested in documentary, and Maggie being a player herself as well as Director of Photography, it’s been a really great.
“We both had a passion both for the story, but also to do the next exciting project that was interesting to each of us for different reasons.”
Co -director Maggie Eudes is a renowned cinematographer in Australia having worked on Five Bedrooms for Channel 10 and in broadcasting the World Surf League. She brings a unique perspective to the project as a semi-professional footballer of 15 years, most recently as a midfielder for the swashbuckling Boroondara Eagles in Victoria’s NPLW in 2023.
“It was really important for us to show in the film that women’s football wasn’t behind because women were not interested in sports or or football or for some, obscure reason there was a real reason.
“They were banned from playing for so long. So we needed to explain that context and also, I think that shows that the World Cup was not an overnight success.
“We really wanted to show that with the Alumni going all the way back to the seventies with Julie Dolan being the first captain.
“We needed to tell that story from where it started basically.”
Completing the film created a hectic schedule for both directors. Eudes was in the middle of an NPLW season in Victoria where Boroondara played midweek and throughout the World Cup.
Much of the filming was completed over the course of a couple of years, but the documentary involved a trip to Europe completed with elite precision.
“Maggie (Miles), and I went to Europe, for 10 days or not even not even 10 days. And we spoke to Sam Kerr, Steph Catley. We just went from club to club,” recalls Eudes.
“I probably didn’t share that too much. But I was definitely looking at the calendar and be like, ‘alright, I’m gonna miss the fewest games possible and be like, you know that weekend, I’ve got a Friday night game. So if we leave on the Saturday morning, I’ll miss a little bit less.
“That’s how it is when you when you play football and you’re really into it, and you’re into the season and the seasons going well as well.
“It’s balancing out where you don’t miss out (or) you don’t lose your spot. I guess there’s a bit of extra stress. But then, as soon as we landed in Europe, you know it was, go go!
“Then we did another filming trip in Australia, where we were probably gone for a week, and we interviewed a lot of the Alumni in that in that trip.”
A must see film
Reactions to the film have been universally positive. Football presenter Kat Sasso praised it online, and as a pioneer of modern women’s football, Heather Reid described it as a “must see” account of the journey of many individuals and how far women’s football has come in Australia, particularly in recent decades.
“I was somewhat overwhelmed with emotion after watching the preview earlier this year,” Reid told Impetus.
“Even though I’d helped the producers with fact-checking, sourcing interviews and identifying photos, actually seeing the nearly completed film made me feel proud – especially when thinking about the personal and collective efforts of so many people who contributed to the progress and transformation of women’s football in Australia.
“The game is more popular, successful and equitable than ever before thanks to the efforts of our courageous pioneers.
“I was uplifted hearing their stories, and I also shed a tear or two with accounts of hardship, discrimination and persistence.
“I congratulate everyone involved in bringing this important journey of women’s football to life and look forward to seeing the final version.”
Purpose, empowerment and inclusion
Matildas Alumni Moya Dodd first played for the national team in 1986, and was a member of the squad to travel to China for the FIFA Women’s Invitational Tournament (the pilot for a World Cup.) One could be forgiven for assuming she has seen and heard every tale to be told about The Matildas. But Trailblazers contained things that were new to her.
“It’s kinda funny,” Dodd said to Impetus.
“People get way more excited now when they hear I was a Matilda than they ever were at the time.
“It just shows how much equity has been built in the team by every generation. And it’s great to hear the stories shared.
“There are some stories in the film that I didn’t know – from players that I shared a pitch with. Karen Menzies’ story will stop you in your tracks.”
Dodd features in the film, and says that the legacy of the Matildas Alumni goes beyond the football pitch, and Trailblazers captures that.
”This is a story not just about a football team, but about purpose, empowerment and inclusion. It’s a shared story that millions of fans are now a part of.”
A flexible gameplan and adaptable team
When the directors describe the adaptability and teamwork involved it is easy to mistake it for a coach talking about their squad and season.
They credit the work of their producers and editors in achieving the final product. Miles and Eudes led an all-female creative team, some of who were new to football, but soon became converts.
“Having a small team is really great because we were very agile,” said Maggie Miles.
“So just keeping it really small, Lucy Maclaren, as a lead producer is just so amazing and just really adept. We we kept having to just strategize and think on our feet.
“Then Sara Edwards, our editor is just so incredible, you know, and really fast, too. And so yeah, I think having a small team really helps to keep you adaptable as well.”
Maggie Eudes concurred.
“I’d say a good half of the team had no interest in sport going into the project. So then their interest was very much in gender equality, but they had a different view on a on a lot of scenes and aspects of the film.
“Like our editor knew very little about football, or maybe nothing about football when she started. And now she’s a big fan…having that diversity of the experience. Within the team was great, and I think it shaped the film.”
Both directors say that the all women team was an important aspect of the creative process. Although it was something that they aspired to, it still occurred naturally over the course of production.
“I remember talking really early with Maggie and talking about having an all-female team,” reflects Maggie Miles
“And we’re like, ‘Well yeah, great. But it just might not be possible on a practical level.’
“So it wasn’t necessarily something that we always went, ‘what’s the next role we need to fill? let’s make sure it’s a woman.’
“I don’t remember thinking about that at all, actually. It wasn’t until the very end and you look around (that we noticed.)
“Then when we started dealing with Stan that we were on a Zoom once, there were maybe 12 people from Stan, and there’s only one guy, and it’s like, ‘Oh, wow! What is this?’”
In that way, the making of Trailblazers reflects the subject matter. Diversity in media, and in sports is a key factor in gender equality. The current and past players all want to leave a legacy and this documentary will hopefully aid with that.
Each generation has left the game better off than when they began and Trailblazers tries to capture that and inspire the future ones.
“The current players who, when we interviewed, they’re just laser focused. It was extraordinary,” said Miles.
“The Alumni all had motivations bigger than their own.
“They wanted to speak about their own experience, but they wanted the broader story told, and I think we’re sort of tapping into change as well, because while we have had some challenges, we’ve also had an incredible amount of interest and momentum.
“If we look at what happened during the Women’s World Cup 2023, we asked someone in in the lead up, ‘Well, what do you expect will happen, what do you expect you will see in the World Cup?’
“One of the words that came up was joy. You know the joy of watching the joy of participating. The people I know people inside the game weren’t surprised.
“But look what happened… this extraordinary cauldron of activity around the Women’s World Cup spread across Australia and New Zealand with a massive wave of interest. So I think we sort of tap into that.
“We did make a decision to kind of if you like, role model the future. So we deliberately don’t bang on about what’s hard, what’s not working what’s still got to change.
“Of course we do acknowledge those things, but we’re actually promoting the things that have changed. We’re promoting the stories that that need to get out there.
“So, I think you know, we had a certain mindset, and maybe we tapped into, you know, a societal readiness for that as well.
Maggie Eudes is full of admiration for what the players achieved, often step by step and over 40 years of playing and advocating for the basic and equal treatment.
“They all wanted to leave the game in a better state that they’ve they found it no matter what that means.
“30 years ago it meant just having your shorts provided to now having your own hotel room as opposed to sharing with someone else and flying business class.
“What they had in common as well is the passion for the game. I think even you know, with things being maybe easier for the players that are playing now, the passion’s the same.
“They have different things they need to deal with. You know, the players now have to deal with that massive pressure of being so well known being watched and having to perform.
“It was really interesting, I think, and it was really humbling actually to see that even in Sam Kerr.
“Because they’ve gone through what they’ve gone through, they know where they come from like this, they they’re grateful, and they’re really humble.”
Blaze your own trail
The film is destined for to be watched by many, but for Miles and Eudes, the measure of success is not in viewing numbers alone. The film will be available for schools with education resources mapped to curriculum. The goals are long term even if in the short term you will be moved and entertained.
“We’d like the film to empower whoever is watching the film to to see their passion” says Eudes.
“It’s a bit cliched, it’s the title but to blaze their own trail.
“If that path doesn’t exist and you think it should then we want people to feel that they can do it.
“There’s also this idea of collective action and the power of the collective. So you know if that’s something that can be taken on board by whoever’s watching and feels like that.
“They need to blaze their own trail, and they want to do it collectively.”
Maggie Miles saw the way that The Matildas inspired a country and hopes that the film like each generation of Matildas can help people pursue their passions.
“Step into that thing that you want to do and you’re passionate about.
“It’s not only about sport and we have seen in responses to the film thus far that people do come away and talk about that thing that they’re interested in, that they’ve always wanted to do.”
“That’s that’s what we hope for, that it will spark people to guts it out and follow their own dreams as well.”
Trailblazers premiers on June 4 on Stan. The project’s website and links to Impact campaign and resources can be found here: https://trailblazersfilm.com.au
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