Kicking, not screaming: an examination of football (soccer) and female footballers in Australian screen-based narratives

Since 2016, interest and investment in the Australian production of screen-based narratives featuring football (soccer) played by females has significantly increased. Australian women’s sport and the screen industry have experienced significant change in the same period. The Australian national team, the Matildas, and professional women’s football – the nation’s most popular participation sport – have established a prominent place in mainstream media. Drawing on Levinasian (1969) notions of totality and infinity, this chapter explores children’s media production as it relates to football and the increased visibility of elite professional female footballers. The recent film, Back of the Net (2018), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television series Mustangs FC (2017–2019) and the ABC documentary series, Kick (2016–2019) represent three forms of narrative centred on young female footballers. These productions respond to the issue of totalisation by welcoming the expression of female footballers in the productions, depicting female footballers as diverse rather than a fixed identity and by referring their audience to the complexity of representation. They represent a significant innovation in screen productions depicting Australian women’s football and arguably illustrate the impact of the introduction of the Screen Australia Gender Matters Policy on narrative representations in Australian screen production.