Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective

Falling Pictures & Yeah Girl

Sunday 4 October 2026

Presented by HOTA

Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective

Falling Pictures & Yeah Girl

Presented by HOTA

2026 marks ten years of the women’s skateboarding media platform, Yeah Girl, which was founded on the Gold Coast and first launched as part of BLEACH Festival in 2016. Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective is a short documentary film celebrating Yeah Girl’s legacy and influence on global skateboarding culture. [add break]

The screening is followed by a panel discussion featuring prominent women from the skateboarding industry, moderated by Yeah Girl founder, Sarah Huston. The panel will discuss topics including the rise of women’s skateboarding over the last decade on the Gold Coast and globally, the success of local skateboarders on the world stage, the impact of the Olympics on skateboarding culture, and more.

Bio

Poppy Starr Olsen

Poppy Starr Olsen Poppy started skating at age 8 and won her first competition at 9 years old. This was the start of a love of competition and a campaign to have women included at skate events. Poppy won the Australian Skateboarding Championships at age 12, which qualified her for the World Cup, held in the USA. Having no funds to travel overseas, Poppy started selling her artworks at Bondi Markets and took a Kidprenuer course. She began speaking at leadership events around Australia, including the National Leadership Forum, Stand Tall, and a TedX talk at age 14. At age 16 Poppy won her first World Cup as a professional skater. During these years—8 to be exact—a film crew followed Poppy around the world filming a feature length coming-of-age documentary called 'Tall Poppy’, which was released in 2021. Poppy competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and came 5th in the world. Perhaps more importantly, she was awarded the honour of the Fair Play Sportsmanship Award for the Olympic Games. Retiring from competition after the Paris 2024 Olympics, Poppy remained in France and concentrated on her art. Poppy is currently studying Music and Performing Arts at Newcastle University and selling her artwork online.

Dr Indigo Willing

Dr Indigo Willing is war orphan, has a PhD in Sociology and is a skateboarder. She is the co-author of the book Skateboarding, Power and Change (Palgrave Macmillan) with Anthony Pappalardo and illustrations by Adam Abada. Her roles include as the Co-Chair for the International Advisory Board of Skateistan. She is also the co-founder of Respect is Rad / Consent is Rad, We Skate QLD, SSHRED. Dr Willing is a recipient of an Advanced Olympic Research Grant (2025-2027) exploring community groups and skateboarding in the Olympics; a Winston Churchill Trust NSW Churchill Fellow (2024-2025) conducting a study of promoting safer spaces and skating for social good; a QLD State Library John Oxley Library Hon. Fellow documenting QLD skate History (2025) in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Games, and as Visiting Research Fellow at The University of Sydney at SSSHARC. She was the 2025 Skate Scholar of the Year in the State of Skate report, and her awards include a QLD Government Individual Achievement Award 2024 for her skate research, community work and advocacy, awarded from Outdoors QLD.

Tora Waldren

Tora Waldren has been at the helm of Australian skateboarding for over 10 years. From competing, coaching and commentating, to event curation and skate installations, there’s not an avenue she hasn’t touched. As a voice for women in sport, Tora has pushed the boundaries to get girls equal pay, equal opportunity and to have the best representation across skateboarding as possible. Tora has contributed to zines and art projects around the Gold Coast and Tweed, supporting grassroots skate culture and creating new networks for skateboarding. Now managing at Fast Times, Tora aims to generate more opportunities for skaters and skate events, and give back to the SE QLD and Northern Rivers communities.

Artists

Sarah Huston, Falling Pictures Pty Ltd

Sarah Huston is an Australian actor, stunt performer, filmmaker, and founder of the women’s skateboarding media platform, Yeah Girl. Yeah Girl began in 2016 as a photo exhibition featuring photos of female/non-binary skateboarders, shot by female/non-binary photographers. The exhibition toured for three years to Copenhagen, Los Angeles and back to Australia before evolving into a leading online platform for women’s skateboarding content. In 2019, Sarah spoke at Mobile World Congress in Los Angeles about her work with Yeah Girl.  As an actor and stunt performer, Sarah has worked on a range of Australian and international productions. Her short film The Brutal Alchemy of Water, which she wrote, produced and starred in, premiered at Flickerfest International Short Film Festival in 2026.  Sarah is currently developing new work under her production company, Falling Pictures, that continues her efforts to lean into the avant-garde and subvert the male gaze in skateboarding and beyond.

Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective

Footnote: A Yeah Girl Retrospective