Aussie director debuts Indigenous snowboard film with Spencer O’Brien
SNOWSBEST
March 26, 2023
It is her journey to rediscovering her First Nations identity that is captured in the film Precious Leader Woman, written by O’Briena and fellow First Nations writer Elle Elle-Maija Tailfeathers and directed by Australian Cassie de Colling from Melbourne.
World Champion snowboarder and two time Winter Olympian Spencer O’Brien is a legend, and not just for her five Aspen X Games medals (one gold, one silver, three bronze), nor because she was the first woman to successfully land a Backside 900 trick in X Games competition.
But because she accomplished all of this while struggling with rheumatoid arthritis and because she used her voice to stand up for female snowboarders let down by FIS and the IOC during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics...
This powerful film that tells O’Brien’s Indigenous story under the backdrop of her snowboard career has won numerous awards including three Leo Awards, the Audience Award at the Banff Mountain Film Festival, and has been selected for several other festivals around the world, including the Indigenous-led Māoriland Film Festival.