Power Marys* follows the journey of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) women’s rugby league team to their first world cup, and explores how women playing PNG’s male-dominated, national sport in the public eye for the first time is changing mindsets in a country where the status of women is one of the most troubling in the world. PNG is Australia’s nearest neighbour, less than 10 kilometres away at the closest point, but it could scarcely be more different. Despite pockets of rapid modernisation, it is a country dominated by staunchly traditional culture and, in many communities, a society built around the repression of women. PNG has huge rates of gender-based violence – the United Nations estimates that 50 per cent of women in PNG will be raped in their lifetime. After 40 years of independence, PNG remains divided by tribal mentalities and more than 800 different languages. But there is one thing that unites almost all of its 8 million citizens – an obsession with rugby league. In 2017, PNG will co-host the Rugby League World Cup for the first time, and while its well-known male players are expected to attract most of the limelight, PNG’s top female rugby league players will be preparing for their debut in the Women’s Rugby League World Cup, which will run alongside the men’s for the first time. However, this journey is not just about winning on the field. Off the field, these women want to seize the opportunity to transform perceptions of women in PNG – why they deserve respect, what they are capable of, and what role they can play in their country’s future. The film will follow the journeys of several PNG female rugby league players striving to be selected in the final world cup squad in November 2017 and travel to Australia for the tournament (and, in many cases, leave PNG for the first time). We will visit their homes in the cities, highlands, islands and jungles of PNG and explore their personal stories. Like many Papua New Guineans, they have grown up watching rugby league but are the first women in their family to play it. Some are victims of gender-based violence or are close to those who are victims. Others come from troubled homes and have turned their lives around through involvement in sport. Many have dreams beyond sport, including finishing their education and starting careers. They hope their world cup journey will be a vehicle to help them achieve those dreams, and inspire other women to do the same. They also hope that PNG’s first appearance in the women’s world cup will change mindsets about women in their communities and their country, and hopefully challenge attitudes beyond PNG’s shores.