How To Be A Roll Model documentary

When Mérida Miller, founder of the Dutch non-profit Project Fearless — after-school activities for girls in Amsterdam, with a focus on bravery, leadership, and community impact — noticed that she couldn’t find any trick tutorials led by women to send the girls during lockdown, she decided to put together a crew and make a film for the girls, with the girls.

Mérida says “I wanted to create a place where young girls actually saw themselves and not just highlight the best tricks but celebrate the learning process while making room for others to do the same.” The documentary film was directed by Al Lewis and follows a group of 8-14-year-olds through the skatepark, getting a glimpse into their lives.

A group of girls 8-14 skating is also a group of future women owning themselves and taking up spaces that socially were never given to them — a lesson that lots of women weren’t lucky enough to learn at a young age. A group of girls fearlessly rolling down ramps twice their size is pretty badass, and knowing that they aren’t afraid of stepping into a skatepark is both an inspiration and an invitation for others to do the same. A group of girls feeling free and happy, supporting each other, and encouraging others to join them is everything that is right, and definitely a role model to every female and non-female identifying human out there.