'And Now Here's Ted With the Derby'

It seems like the camera's eye is increasingly on the world of Roller Derby: Tonight reporters from ABC News Nightline will be at the Austin Convention Center covering the Texas Rollergirls bout. Yet they are not the only camera crews on the track these days, with two documentaries imminent.

The trailer for Derby Baby! by Denver documentarians Robin Bond and David Wruck has just been released, and from this early hint, it seems the film will be concentrating on the current internal philosophical struggle between the sport's DIY nature and the commercial forces gathering around it. Local fans of the sport will recognize footage of the Texas Rollergirls at the Women's Flat Track Derby Association nationals last November in Chicago (including everyone's favorite sweetheart of the penalty box Crackerjack at the 1.20 mark).

That's not the only documentary to feature local skaters coming out in the next few months. This is Roller Derby is an Australian production concentrating on the Ballarat Roller Derby League in suburban Melbourne. According to the film makers' website, the movie is due out down under in July: Sadly, no word yet on a US release.

Of course, we'd be remiss if we did not remind everyone about the original modern Roller Derby documentary, Hell on Wheels, by local film makers Bob Ray and Werner Campbell, covering the early days of the modern derby revolution right here in Austin.