ROLEPLAY is a feature documentary that follows a group of college students as they confront sexual violence on their campus through a transformative theater process.  This urgent coming of age story follows young adults grappling with sex, consent, identity, and power on their paths to adulthood.

  • One of the best docs I’ve seen so far this year is Katie Mathews’ “Roleplay,” a film that truly surprised me because it does what so few films like this are willing to do: It lets its subjects be messy, unpredictable, and human…Mathews has a deceptively subtle voice as a director, providing a supportive platform more than insisting on cinematic results. It leads to a film that’s all the more powerful by virtue of feeling so very real.

    Brian Tallerico, Managing Director, RogerEbert.com

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  • “It changed me. Access to these brilliant young minds and what they’ve accomplished got to me on a cellular level. I remembered to be hopeful for a moment.”

    Ashley Smith, Flagpole

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  • "More than a documentary about campus sexual violence, Roleplay is a damning window into the ways society reinforces rape culture." - Brandon Lewis, Geek Vibes Nation

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  • "Timely and important... It is a film that is going to rattle cages." 

    Steve Kopian, Unseen Films

SCREENINGS AND WORKSHOPS

Since premiering at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival, ROLEPLAY has traveled to festivals, colleges and universities, conferences, and independent movie theaters around the world.

Educators, artists, activists, policymakers, professional associations, and companies are using the film to:

Inspire students and community leaders to create artistic responses to toxicity in an effort to spur empathy, dialogue, and change in their own communities. 

  1. Generate dialogue and create awareness for consent that expands beyond ‘just say no’ and reflects students’ realities so that consent language becomes normalized in intimate interactions. 

  2. Use film to inspire the creation of spaces and programming that supports victims in their healing journey and communicating across divides. 

  3. Activate community conversations around responsible bystanders, so students can create new norms and restorative approaches to harm.

  4. Teach and train students, educators, leaders, and artists in intimacy coordination and consent practices

WE OFFER THE FOLLOWING WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES

  • Includes licensing to screen for a large audience

  • With Director Katie Mathews, Producers Darcy McKinnon and Jenny Mercein, and/or film participants 

    • Devising Theater Techniques with Artist Jenny Mercein, Chris Kaminstein, Shannon Flaherty, Darci Fulcher, Denise Frazier, or Miranda Jo Kramer 

    • Story Circle History & Technique with Artist Denise Frazier

    • Embodiment Workshop with Darci Fulcher

    • Consent Practices for the Arts with Director Katie Mathews and/or Artist/Intimacy Coordinator Darci Fulcher

    • Producing Breakthrough Documentary Films with Producer Darcy McKinnon

    • Documentary Directing & Interviewing with Director Katie Mathews

MEET THE ARTISTS

KATIE MATHEWS

Katie Mathews is a filmmaker working across documentary and fiction. Her collaborative approach is focused on creating spaces for truth and transformation. Recent projects include feature documentary Roleplay (SXSW 2024) and narrative short Dark Moon (Vimeo Staff Pick 2022). She is a Princess Grace Award winner, and her work can be found on Teen Vogue, WIRED, Condé Nast Traveler, PBS, Hulu, and Disney+.

www.katie-mathews.com

DARCY MCKINNON

Darcy McKinnon is a documentary filmmaker based in New Orleans, whose work focuses on the American South and the Caribbean. Recently released projects include A King Like Me and Roleplay, premiering at SXSW 2024, Commuted, the winner of the New Orleans Film Festival Audience Award and Best Louisiana Documentary (PBS, 2024),  Algiers, America, winner of the NOFF23 Audience Award (Hulu, 2023), Under G-d (Sundance 2023), Look at Me! XXXTENTACION (SXSW, Hulu, 2022) and News & Doc Emmy-nominated The Neutral Ground (Tribeca, POV, 2021), recipient of Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Documentary of the Year 2022. 

JENNY MERCEIN

Jenny Mercein (she/her) is a theater-maker, writer, storyteller, and producer. She’s been at Tulane since 2016, and currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Originally from New York, Jenny received a BA in Theater Studies and the History of Art from Yale University and an MFA in Acting from the University of Washington. She is the proud recipient of an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Tulane chapter of Mortar Board in 2023. She is also a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and the National Alliance of Acting Teachers.

DARCI FULCHER

Darci Fulcher is an intimacy coordinator, director and movement coach who has dedicated her career to promoting safety, consent, and guidance in the entertainment industry. With extensive experience in physical theatre, movement direction, and intimacy coordination, Darci has become a leading expert in her field, working with performers, directors, and producers to create a culture of respect and professionalism on set and stage.  DarciFulcher.com

DENISE FRAZIER

Denise Frazier is the Programming Director for Prospect New Orleans. She is an educator, musician, and interdisciplinary artist from Houston, who has lived and worked in New Orleans since 2002. She was a 2023-2024 MLK Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the assistant director of the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane University, a place-based research Center that grants fellowships and organizes public programming, immersive experiences, and collective contemplation. 

As a company member of Goat in the Road Productions, Frazier has used her skills as an actor and as a musical composer in immersive performances and collaborations that tell lesser-known stories surrounding sexuality, politics, liberation, and colonialism.

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS