Roller Derby is an American sport which did expand internationally. In five years, more than 100 national teams have been created and many organizations continue to emerge each year.

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"Roller Derby let me find all the rage, all the energy that allowed me to face life and to find my place. "

Laetitia Rodari, Director of Track Girls

Laetitia Rodari offers us a true immersion into the universe of Roller Derby. Players from all over the country gather to try their luck to be part of the french national team that will compete at the World Cup held in Dallas. The forty selected girls will train for a year. Only twenty of them will end the adventure and compete for the World Cup. They will go above the limits, they will stick together and thigh up their fists. They will overcome to their doubts and surpass the pain to be at the high level of the team, to be recognised for their sport, but also and especially to be up for themselves.

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ROLLER DERBY

Track Girls reveals a predominantly female sport that exists for over forty years in the US. Worldwide, teams are emerging. In sport halls, on parkings lots or even in their gardens, these girls train to skate around a track, to block, to rise, to dodge the attack, fist in the air, the guard tooth well positioned.

Roller Derby i detail on Wikipedia

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18 to 40 years old. They are small, big, fat or skinny. They show their bruises on internet as trophies. They are violent, supportive, raging, organized and never lose their sense of humor. They are moms, singles or big solitaries. Some breastfeed their babies on the sidelines while the others keep their place. Nobody talks about it but the women do transmit the message: there is a space where you can give knocks, screaming, falling and rise up. A space where it is possible to form a team and excel yourself, using your strength that has been suppressed, atrophied, ignored for so long ... To feel strong. Finally! They are beautiful, they are funny, they are scratched, exhausted and even defeated but they keep their fist raised and roll with all their forces until their limits.

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WHY THIS FILM?

Through Roller Derby and the prism of Team France, the major intention is to introduce the issues of women who practice it. Track Girls is an immersion in the heart of humanity, showing closely the faces rolling towards the future with their head raised and fists clenched. The film intends to follow the lives of these girls which hold and support themselves to call back that they are capable and strong, but also to show through this sport the different faces that shape the true modern woman, who has no corpulence, study level or predefined skin color but that seems to be ready to take their life by the horns.

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"In this fight that binds us all together for our sport to exist and grow, I play my part, while questioning myself about what these events reflect at our time and what it tells about our human condition. Beyond my personal experience, I feel that something important happens in these gatherings of women of all shapes and colors. I feel that I am witnessing an event, that I attend the creation of something strong. "

Laetitia Rodari

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THE MAIN CHARACTERS

Kozmic

"I want to devote myself exclusively to Derby, I am willing to make many sacrifices for it. "

Former slalom world champion, Kozmic Bruise is known and recognized in her environment. Very humble and shy tough, she is currently in a full life change. She moved to Berlin to join the Berlin Roller Derby team. She remains committed to Team France and will follow and support her team throughout the year. This will allow her to keep the strong relationships she has forged with her former team, the Paris Roller Girls and her friend Karla Karscher.

Lizzie

"Thanks to Derby my life is different, I feel myself fighting. "

Lizzie Rider is a discreet young girl. Supervisor in a college, her schedule allows her to live out her two passions: photography and Roller Derby. Derby has allowed her to assert herself: She's in the Nantes Derby Girls team and she is also the editor of the first french Roller Derby magazine "Deadly Kiss". This is her first selection at the french national team, she did not think to be up to such a commitment.

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"After a while, what you discover on the track has an effect on life. "

Karla Karscher is a pioneer in the Derby universe, she co-founded one of the first Roller Derby teams : Les petites Morts de Bordeaux. Karla already was part of the first national team two years ago. Quiet and elegant, she is a very involved and generous girl. She is tremendously involved in the organisation of the sport itself with well-marked opinions.

Pierre

"I want to give these girls a way to be recognised for their commitment to the sport, I'll do anything for that. "

Pierre is the "Head Coach" of Team France, he is a charismatic coach of the HDG (Hérault Derby Girl) team. He has a great sport career. He wants to make "killers" out of his girls, he is a very strategic man and does not let others dictate what he has to do.

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THE FORM

We follow the course of this adventure chronologically. In terms of rhythm, there are two stages: the sport itself and the everyday life of the characters. The comparison of these two rhythms tells the incredible energy that these women are up to when training. When the body is in action, we are on place, the editing transcribes the speed and increases shocks.

We seek to capture the action in adopting the perspective of the players: on place, on skates to give the impression that we are playing with them. Using a Sony FS 700 camera, will enable us to capture the body in phase with the game with high quality slow motions to see the the bodies and sublime actions.

The everyday life will be more peaceful. The look of the director tries to grasp time downtime, revealing silences, a tender and sensitive look. The idea here is to highlight the contrast, the tremendous power that is felt when they embark on their skates, and, as soon as it ends, the irresistible desire to return to it.

Out of collective landscape, when the girls do organize events in their own regional teams, when they expect the announcement of the selection results, do prepare to join the trainings, organize themselves to defend their sport, the camera is the witness of these moments, we follow the progress of each of the protagonists, we are part of the adventure, we keep on by the continuity of the events. Talking occurs. The camera is the witnesses the look of the director: close, loving, intimate.

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THE SOUND

The soundtrack will be composed by Guillaume Labussière of the Studio Mix and Mouse. He already composed the music of the teaser. The music will be like Derby: female, electro punk, deep voices and punches follow these moments of action.

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PROJECT PROGRESS

12 months of work (writing, fundraising, trails, first shooting) allowed Laetitia Rodari to work and finalize the treatment of the film an extremely thorough and controlled manner. Track Girls is co-produced by AMC2 Productions and Morgane which already provided significant funding for the project. This allowed us to deepen the spotting, to make a Teaser and start shooting important sequences for the film. The project is currently in the development stage. Discussions with major broadcasters and funding applications for institutional aids are on the way.