The Women’s Sports Film Festival will debut in downtown Portland from May 1–3, bringing film screenings, panel discussions, and sports-focused programming to The Judy venue as part of a multi-day cultural event centered on women’s athletics and storytelling. The festival, staged at 1000 SW Broadway, marks a new addition to Portland’s growing calendar of sports and arts programming focused on women’s professional and collegiate achievements.
The three-day event is scheduled to run across multiple sessions, with individual screenings, panel conversations, and community gatherings taking place throughout the weekend. Ticketed access begins at approximately $30 for select screenings, while full-day and half-day passes provide broader access to programming. Organizers confirmed that the opening Friday night session has already reached capacity, signaling early demand for the festival’s debut edition.
The programming structure spans documentary screenings, live discussions with athletes and media figures, and interactive sessions tied to both historical and contemporary topics in women’s sports. Events are organized to take place in sequence across the weekend, with varying formats intended to highlight both storytelling and direct engagement with participants.
Festival Programming and Opening Night Highlights
The opening night of the festival features a lineup that includes former professional tennis player Rosie Casals, known for her partnership with Billie Jean King, alongside TikTok personality Coach Jackie, reflecting a blend of legacy sports figures and modern digital influencers. The Friday schedule is fully reserved, making it the first sold-out segment of the festival.
Programming throughout the weekend is designed to highlight a mix of feature-length documentaries and shorter film projects centered on women’s athletics. Among the scheduled works is early access to “Unmatched,” a documentary focusing on the 2005 University of Portland women’s soccer team, a program that has held a notable place in collegiate sports history.
Organizers have structured the screenings to be followed by discussions that allow filmmakers, athletes, and commentators to engage directly with audiences. These conversations are positioned as an extension of the films themselves, providing additional context on production, storytelling choices, and the lived experiences of the subjects featured on screen.
The festival’s schedule also incorporates moderated panels that run alongside screenings, offering attendees multiple ways to engage with the material. These sessions are intended to create continuity between historical narratives in women’s sports and current developments in media representation and athletic participation.
Brittney Griner Documentary and Featured Panel Discussion
A central component of the Saturday program is a screening of “The Brittney Griner Story,” a documentary detailing the WNBA player’s detention in Russia and subsequent efforts surrounding her return. The film also explores broader issues connected to athlete advocacy and international legal processes involving detained individuals.
Following the screening, a panel discussion will include Lindsay Colas, Griner’s longtime agent and close associate. The conversation is scheduled to address Colas’ role in supporting Griner during the period of detention, offering insight into logistical and personal dimensions of the case that have not previously been publicly detailed in full.
The inclusion of this documentary aligns with the festival’s broader emphasis on narratives that extend beyond athletic performance, focusing instead on the intersection of sports, personal identity, and global events. Organizers have positioned the session as one of the key analytical segments of the weekend due to its subject matter and direct involvement of individuals connected to the story.
Organizers and Portland’s Women’s Sports Ecosystem
The festival is organized by a group of Portland-based figures with backgrounds in sports marketing, media production, and community development. Among them is Missy Capone, who previously worked on large-scale event production within Nike, and Jenny Nguyen, founder of The Sports Bra, a Portland-based venue focused on women’s sports viewing experiences.
Other organizers include Molly King, co-executive director of QDoc, investor Kate Delhagen, and Kimiko Matsuda, founder of The Idea Factory. Their collective involvement reflects a combination of event production expertise, investment experience, and media curation focused on underrepresented sports narratives.
The festival’s creation was initially described by organizers as a conceptual idea that developed into a structured event over time. Planning efforts brought together individuals from Portland’s sports business community, many of whom have previously worked on projects related to women’s athletics, media representation, and audience engagement strategies.
The initiative is situated within a broader Portland context that already includes professional women’s sports teams and sports-focused venues. The city’s established infrastructure for women’s athletics provided a foundation for the development of a festival dedicated specifically to film and media representation in the same space.
Additional Programming, Community Events, and Cultural Features
Beyond screenings and panels, the festival includes additional programming designed to extend engagement beyond traditional film formats. Scheduled activities include a live podcast recording session and a viewing event connected to the Portland Thorns, integrating live sports consumption with the festival environment.
Merchandise tied to local women’s sports brands and teams is also planned as part of the event offering, including items associated with The Fire, The Thorns, The Cascade, Cherry Bombs, and The Sports Bra. These elements are integrated into the broader festival space at The Judy, contributing to a multi-use environment combining media, commerce, and audience interaction.
The programming also includes references to historical and contemporary storytelling projects, such as the documentary “Unmatched,” which focuses on a notable collegiate women’s soccer team from the University of Portland. The inclusion of both professional and collegiate narratives reflects the festival’s wide-ranging approach to women’s sports representation.
