This inspiring new documentary follows five female skateboarders on their great adventure across Europe.
Coming soon to selected Picturehouse Cinemas, Woolf Women Now or Never, is a new documentary composed of self-filmed travel diary footage from a group of five female downhill boarders.
The fearless young thrill seekers call themselves the Woolf Women and in their shared vision and passion for the sport, they epitomise the essence of an all-female skating community. The film follows the girls’ challenges as they navigate their way across Europe, foraging food, overcoming setbacks and patching-up their van with duct tape along the way. Their destination is Sumela – an ancient monastery perched high in the Pontic Mountains, where no skateboarder has ventured before.
The solidarity of a sisterhood in a male dominated sport is the fuel behind the pilgrimage and the bond between these five friends.Chatting to leader of the pack, Mama Woolf – Jenny Jungle, a daredevil downhill skater with a world ranking of number two, there is a real emphasis on the power of female friendship in a profession dominated by men:
“I love to hang out with girls because I know I’m understood. We are only 6% women is this male dominated sport. It can be very intimidating sometimes for girls to skate with so many boys, so we few have to stick together in order to feel stronger. We support and push each other to higher levels, as measuring with the top male riders is just impossible – physically spoken for most of us women.”
Downhill skating involves racing down steep roads on a longboard at speeds of up to 100kmph, whilst negotiating oncoming traffic. When the film’s producer Marchella De Angelis’ path collided with Jenny and her clan, she was fascinated by their authenticity. Convinced that their Gen Z spirit and guileless chutzpah was relatable enough to be made into a documentary, she galvanised the fab five into filming their next feat.
Female Friendship
However, the documentary is not only a celebration of female friendship, tenacity and adventurous spirit but a witness to the journey of healing and grief. Prior to the road trip Jenny lost her father, his unexpected death led to mental health issues which caused the loss of her job and home, forcing her to move into her van.
‘Marchella recognised my need to reconcile the death of my father and so she felt bringing in a spiritual dimension to the film would be interesting. Sumela is an ancient monastery in the mountains on the Asian side of Turkey and is not easy to access. It is a place where my father would have loved, and I put him to rest there by lighting a candle for him. In a way the long and treacherous journey was a sort of pilgrimage for him and for me to get closure.’
Gen Z Wheels on Fire
With limited funds, no content or sponsorship deals behind them, this is a Gen Z story of wheels on fire, the process of grief and healing, sisterhood and a reason why freedom is everything – a story that Marchella felt compelled to help these five young women tell. It marks a debut for Jenny and Marchella and in the spirit of freedom and not being tied to monetization, red-tape, social pressures and convention.
Woolf Women will premiere on 29th March at Finsbury Park Picturehouse with tickets available for a special screening and cast and crew Q&A. It will then be showing at selected Picturehouse Cinemas in the UK this Summer.
For details visit www.woolfwomen.com
