Borderless jam Roller derby team members lap all blockers by representing their own Indigenous nations By: Eva Wasney Posted: 5:16 PM CST Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026

Roller derby can come with real physical risks — bruises, torn ligaments and broken bones.

For the members of Indigenous Rising, however, participating in the full-contact sport has been a deeply healing experience.

The groundbreaking all-Indigenous female roller derby team is the subject of Rising Through the Fray, a new documentary opening at Dave Barber Cinematheque Thursday and screening until Wednesday.

Filmmaker Courtney Montour, a longtime roller derby fan, first learned about Indigenous Rising during the borderless team’s inaugural appearance at the Roller Derby World Cup in 2018. Instead of competing under the banner of their birth countries, the skaters came together to represent their own Indigenous nations from around the world.

“(The team) said, ‘You know what? We don’t want to represent the countries and the colonial borders that have been put upon us,’” says Montour, who is Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Kahnawà:ke, a First Nation south of Montreal.

“Right away, I knew we needed to uplift these really incredibly positive Indigenous stories that are also historic.”

Rising Through the Fray follows the team as it gains momentum, attracts new members and inspires the founding of other borderless roller derby teams from Black, Jewish and Latino communities.

The documentary focuses on the stories of three skaters: Sherry (Sour Cherry) Bontkes, who is Saulteaux from Sagkeeng First Nation living in Alberta; Kapulani (Hawaiian Blaze) Patterson, who is Hawaiian living in New York; and Kristina (Krispy) Glass, who is Cherokee from Oklahoma.

Despite their diverse backgrounds, the women share personal experiences and family histories coloured by the lasting effects of colonization.

“They all have very different stories of disconnection and separation from their community, culture and identity for various reasons. What centres each of their stories is the importance Indigenous Rising has had on them in reclaiming their identities and feeling pride,” Montour says.

The power of community is a major theme of the film.

“It’s not just a game,” Bontkes says in the film. “We have created a family that nobody can deny.”

The documentary transitions between quiet moments of meditation as the team smudges together and raucous scenes of skates clacking and bodies crashing together on the track.

Montour enlisted Winnipeg screen composer Justine Delorme to create a film score that captured the beauty of roller derby — which the director likens to synchronized dancing — and the tenderness of the narrative.

While punk rock might seem like a natural fit for the rough and tumble sport, the pair went in the opposite direction with classical music focused on the cello.

‘We could take something very full-bodied, very melodic and very sensitive at the same time and feature the cello in different contexts sonically, whether we’re in the hard-hitting tournament moments or meditating after the match and reflecting on what it takes to really become a better team,” says Delorme, who is Red River Métis and previously worked with Montour on The Knowing, a 2024 documentary based on Anishinaabe journalist Tanya Talaga’s memoir of the same name.

Rising Through the Fray made its theatrical release in Canada this week, following a successful festival run in the fall. Montour believes the film’s message of human connection has had particular resonance with audiences.

“The political climate in many countries right now is trying to homogenize and ‘other’ people,” she says. “No matter what background people are coming from, I think there’s a desire right now where people are really looking for that connection, that representation, to be seen and to belong.”

Montour will be in Winnipeg tomorrow for a Q&A moderated by Diane Roussin following the documentary’s 7 p.m. screening at Cinematheque.

winnipegfreepress.com/evawasney