Geek Girl Fun: Roller Derby, Geek Documentary, & Fringe Festival Stuff!

by Jordan Danger

BEST BET FOR GEEK GIRL FUN THIS WEEK: ROLLER DERBY SAVED MY SOUL IN OTTAWA
(FOR THE REST OF YOU, THE DOCUMENTARY SHE'S MAKING WILL KEEP YOU ENTERTAINED.)

Many of you may have heard about a little indie play called Roller Derby Saved My Soul. Writer and actor of the one-woman show, Nancy Kenny, created and performed this show much to the joy of many roller derby enthusiasts, and she’s back at it again.

Kenny is currently raising money for a nationwide tour of Fringe festivals as she and a crew are heading out on the road to film a documentary called On the Fringe, detailing the life and experiences of the people who spend their summers participating in Fringe festivals. It’s a unique concept, and a cool one to be sure. Kenny is working hard towards raising the necessary $10,000 to make this documentary, and you can check out her Indiegogo campaign here.

What this means for Ottawa folk is that this Friday, May 30 2014, you can catch a one-night encore of Kenny’s cool show, Roller Derby Saved My Soul. Kenny’s piece is a narrative of one girl’s experience with roller derby, and how much it makes her feel like a superhero. As a former derby player myself, I can tell you this isn’t far from the truth.

ROLLER DERBY SAVED MY SOUL

STARRING NANCY KENNY

FRIDAY MAY 30 2014

ARTS COURT THEATRE, OTTAWA ONTARIO

TICKETS: $15-25

More info here.

Kenny and her show are heavily decorated with awards and highly critically acclaimed. Whether or not you’re familiar with derby, this show shouldn’t be missed. And of course, we love to support geek girls in all areas, so please do contribute to Kenny’s Indiegogo campaign if you can! The documentary project is gathering strong support, not the least of which is the loan of a Volkswagen Passat for Kenny & crew to travel around the country this summer, donated by an independent Ottawa dealership, Hunt Club Volkswagen. So extra snaps for Hunt Club VW for supporting geek girls and girl filmmakers!

You can check out all sorts of info about the show, the documentary, etc etc etc at the info below. You’ll see a couple of our CGG writers at the show on Friday, so be sure to say hi!

About the documentary: www.onthefringedoc.com

About the Roller Derby Saved My Soul: www.rollerderbysavedmysoul.com

On the Fringe Indiegogo campaign: http://igg.me/at/OntheFringe/x/4757376

One Night Only information and tickets: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/fundraiser-roller-derby-saved-my-soul-in-ottawa-for-one-night-only-tickets-11077050757

About Aventus Films: www.aventusfilms.com

About May Can Theatre: http://maycantheatre.webs.com! 

Hunt Club Volkswagen: http://huntclubvw.com/?lng=2

Capital Geek Girls News Update

We’ve had some exciting news this month at Capital Geek Girls. Let’s walk through it!

CGG IS PRESENTING AT OTTAWA COMIC CON!

Join us at the Ottawa Comic Con to attend our workshop, The Girl’s Guide to Being Geeky! In this session, CGG Editor, Jordan Danger, will walk you through a how-to guide of being a geek or taking your geekdom to the next level. Special focus on some of the unique experiences, barriers, upsides, and challenges of being a woman in the geek world will be addressed. Can’t wait to see you there!

WE’RE FAMOUS: OUR DOCUMENTARY!

Local filmmaker Emma Paling created a five minute documentary about the Capital Geek Girls. You can check it out right here:

It was tons of fun, and you get to meet a few of our geek girl writers!

IN THE NEWS: SUPPORTING HOLLABACK’S WORK AT COMIC CON

Your CGG fearless Editor Jordan Danger was also quoted in this recent article about harrassment at comic cons. The article highlights that Hollaback Ottawa will be presenting a workshop at the convention about harrassment. You can read the article here. 

IN THE NEWS AGAIN: THE GEEK GIRL EXPERIENCE

Here’s another news story (video this time) in Ottawa’s Centretown News, about the geek girl experience..and yes, we’re interviewed in it again! Here’s the link. 

FOR GIRLS WHO LOVE BLOGGING GEEKS

The annual Blog Out Loud Ottawa event is taking place this April 29^th at the Knox Presbyterian Church downtown, from 6:30-on. This event features blog posts read out loud by the authors themselves, who have been selected by jury to provide a wide range of fun and interesting readings. CGG Editor Jordan Danger will be reading a piece from the ‘mother blog’ of CGG (her original blog), GirlCrafted.com. The event is free and lots of fun!

STAY TUNED, FOLKS…

Same bat time, same bat channel. You never know where we’ll pop up next!

Film Review: Rise of the eSports Hero: a documentary

by Marla Desat 

credit: Erica Landrock

RISE OF THE ESPORTS HERO: THE WORLD OF PROFESSIONAL STARCRAFT (A DOCUMENTARY)

I started watching professional StarCraft in university. My friends and I would stay up late to watch matches being broadcast online from South Korea, where StarCraft has a huge professional scene. Explaining the allure of watching someone play a video game is tricky, and even my gamer friends sometimes struggled to understand the appeal. When I watch professionals play, I am seeing the highest level of skill and strategy in a game I love to play. It isn't always easy to explain, and that's why I am so excited about Rise of the eSports Hero, a Canadian documentary by filmmaker Erica Landrock that explores the subculture of professional gamers from an outsider's perspective. Rise of the eSports Hero premiered on Global TV on October 26, 2013. The full documentary is available online from Global. 

StarCraft is a science fiction real time strategy game from Blizzard Entertainment, released in 1998. Players must collect resources and construct an army, and then battle each other to claim victory. The game was hugely popular, and in 2010 Blizzard released its sequel, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

credit: Erica Landrock

I contacted producer Erica Landrock about the film, and she told me the idea came from her co-director, Stephen Gillis. "Stephen is an avid NHL video game player and I would enjoy a round of Super Mario Kart or Guitar Hero now and again, but never have been one to really get into gaming," says Landrock. "This in part is what attracted me to the documentary idea so much. It is a world I really knew nothing about and every piece of information I learned about it blew my mind."

  

The documentary follows Chris "HuK" Loranger, Greg "IdrA" Fields, and Geoff "iNcontroL" Robinson from April to December 2012. Loranger is Canadian, and that was a big selling point for Landrock. The documentary follows the gamers to five tournaments, and to Seoul, South Korea. Living out of suitcases and struggling to acclimatize to different time zones before a big tournament, Landrock told me that she was impressed with their dedication and passion for the game.

  

Behind the scenes. Credit: Erica Landrock

Some protest that professional gaming is not a sport, but Landrock disagrees. "Is poker a sport? Is Nascar a sport? Is chess a sport? What defines a sport? The players that we followed definitely are professionals and masters at their game," says Landrock. "Many would argue they aren’t athletes because of the lack of physicality of gaming, but I’d challenge anyone to go to a tournament or follow these players for a few days and you may just change your mind. The high level of skills, technique, strategy and mental agility would rival other “traditional” sports any day."

  

The documentary is available for Canadian viewers online from GlobalTV, and the filmmakers are working on making it available internationally.  I highly recommend giving it a watch, even if you are unfamiliar with StarCraft. Landrock and her team have made an accessible and entertaining introduction to the world of esports.

Learn more about the documentary on Facebook.

Marla Desat is a recent University of Waterloo grad living and working in Ottawa. When she isn't playing the latest video games, she's geeking out over comic books, board games, tabletop roleplaying games and science. Marla also writes for The Escapist as a freelance news writer. You can follow her on Twitter @mrdesat.