The Strong Women documentary series follows some of Australia's top women vying to be crowned Australia’s Strongest Woman in the sport of Strongman.

These daughters, mothers and wives share their thoughts, inspirations and motivations on the sport and how it is helping them rebuild themselves inside and out, after challenging experiences with domestic violence, bullying, addictions and eating disorders.

The documentary follows Mariko Whyte, Kerryn Siems, Alira Verity and Leigh Holland-Keen and through their personal stories, we see the four women gain strength, sacrifice relationships, struggle with injuries and celebrate their achievements.

Strongman is a niche sport with limited mainstream media attention that has until recently only featured alpha males.

Since 2015 the number of women competing has increased by 500% in Australia. Female competitors come in all shapes, sizes and backgrounds in a sport that celebrates their achievements rather than what their bodies look like or a number on a scale.

To be crowned Australia’s next Strongest Woman, these women have to overcome their personal limitations, sacrifice relationships, and struggle with injuries.

This uplifting series celebrates diversity and the power of inclusion through sport while shattering stereotypes and tackling women’s health issues.

The series, funded by Screen Australia, the ABC & Film Victoria which will be available for streaming on ABC iview on August 1st, 2021, is giving the film-makers the opportunity to now launch a social impact campaign STRONG BODY / STRONG MIND to engage with the series’ audience in discussions of women’s health topics and spread the positive messages about the healing power of sport for women’s mental and physical health.

The impact campaign aims to empower Australian women by encouraging them to:

• Learn how sport can help them build up their confidence, self-worth, health & wellbeing
• See their body for what it can achieve rather than what it looks like or a number on a scale
• Find a supportive community where they feel welcomed to participate in physical activity
• Increase the awareness of the professional support services and resources available

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“This documentary will help make a true impact on the welfare and positive health of women globally, encouraging women to build confidence, participate in physical activity, boost self-esteem and positive body image and open meaningful conversations about mental health,” said documentary co-creators Corinne Innes and Alexandra Gaulupeau. ‘Our supplementary social impact campaign will amplify this message’.

STRONG BODY / STRONG MIND is fundraising through the Australian Sports Foundation to enable:

• Hosting screenings of the film to engage an excited crowd and help spread the inspiring messages.
• Releasing a fitness and mental health toolkit to support everyone who wants to make positive lifestyle changes. This will include exercises, mental health plans, motivational cues, and more.
• Rolling out engaging, positive and impactful social media strategy to help motivate and inspire women and girls throughout Australia to participate in sport and physical activity.

“The Australian Sports Foundation is delighted to be providing fundraising support for this social impact campaign STRONG BODY / STRONG MIND. Sport plays a valuable role in building confidence and self esteem among women and girls, yet Australian females currently participate in sports at a much lower rates than males.”

“By supporting this impact campaign, we want to help the makers empower women by encouraging them to take part in physical activities and learn first-hand how sport can help them build up their confidence and improve their mental health,” said Australian Sports Foundation CEO Patrick Walker.

Strong Women is co-created by two emerging Australian film-makers, Corinne Innes and Alexandra Gaulupeau and co-produced by Ann Megalla.

For more information on Strong Women & STRONG BODY / STRONG MIND, please visit https://www.strongwomendocumentary.com/

To donate please visit  https://asf.org.au/projects/strong-women-documentary/

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