The Gold Coast filmmaker will present Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective and the experimental Rekindle, Rekindle at BLEACH Festival in October.

Gold Coast actor, stunt performer and filmmaker Sarah Huston will present two new films exploring skateboarding culture at BLEACH Festival this October.

Presented at HOTA, Home of the Arts, Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective and Rekindle, Rekindle approach the subject from markedly different directions. One documents a pivotal decade for women and gender-diverse skateboarders, while the other uses motion, repetition and fire to explore the physical and emotional demands of the sport.

Premiering Oct. 4, Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective traces the evolution of Yeah Girl, the global women’s skateboarding project Huston founded on the Gold Coast in 2016.

Yeah Girl began as a photography exhibition featuring images of women and gender-diverse skateboarders captured by women and gender-diverse photographers from around the world. The exhibition subsequently travelled to Copenhagen and Los Angeles before developing into a global media platform.

Written and directed by Huston, Footnote draws on footage filmed in Australia, Los Angeles and other locations around the world. The documentary features X Games medallist and skateboarding pioneer Mimi Knoop, artist and former professional skateboarder Louisa Menke, photographer and community organiser Norma Ibarra, sociologist and skateboarder Dr Indigo Willing, and Huston.

“I wanted to make Footnote not simply as a celebration of what Yeah Girl achieved, but as an opportunity to spotlight the people who shaped it, honour the pioneers who came before, and give a nod to those who continue to pave the way,” Huston said.

“The film reflects on a really unique moment in skateboarding, and it’s an interesting time to stop and look back as we head toward the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.”

The world premiere will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Australian Olympic skateboarder Poppy Starr Olsen, Willing and local skateboarder Tora Waldren, moderated by Huston.

BLEACH Festival artistic director Felix Preval said the documentary captures an important period in the development of women’s skateboarding.

“We’re excited to host the world premiere screening of Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective at the festival,” Preval said. “The documentary beautifully captures a pivotal decade for women’s skating, celebrating the scene’s great champions as artists as well as athletes, and traces the sport’s journey from grassroots culture to global recognition.”

Huston’s second work, Rekindle, Rekindle, moves into more experimental territory. Shot on Super 8, the film draws on Huston’s experience as a professional stunt performer and longstanding relationship with skateboarding.

In the film, Huston is engulfed in flames as skateboarding becomes a meditation on destruction, creation and the repeated act of pushing the body to its limits. The work features an original score by acclaimed Australian sound artist Lawrence English.

The two films arrive as Huston’s award-winning short The Brutal Alchemy of Water continues its festival run. Written and produced by Huston, who also stars, the film recently screened at CinefestOZ, where it was nominated for best director. It will next screen at the Catalina Film Festival.

Together, the three projects mark the expansion of Huston’s filmmaking practice across narrative, documentary and experimental forms through the newly established production company Falling Pictures.

Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective will have its world premiere at HOTA on Oct. 4 at 2.30 p.m. Rekindle, Rekindle will screen as a film installation in the HOTA Gallery from Oct. 1 to 11. Both events are free, with registration required for the Footnote screening.