Patricia “Pat” Palinkas defined history. In Panther Pat (2026) we see her break gender barriers. It was in 1970 when Pat became the first woman to play professional American football amongst a league of male players. Playing as the placeholder for her husband, ‘Big Steve’ Palinkas for the Orlando Panthers, Pat was surrounded by a male roster. They made history in becoming the first husband-wife duo playing in professional American football. Throughout her childhood, Pat was constantly told to ‘play with dolls.’ She then became a schoolteacher but her love and talent for American football was too strong to simply let go.
This documentary short film was showcased in Tribeca’s ‘Shorts: Whatever It Takes’ category. Ashley Brandon excellently directs and edits Panther Pat with a unique approach to storytelling. In an extremely creative technique, Pat’s story is told through toys, specifically Mattel’s Barbie dolls. Brandon cleverly uses Barbie’s younger sister, Kelly (or Shelly in the UK) to show the main subject, Pat as a young child watching football matches on the TV.
Although using the dolls multiple points of articulation and doll puppetry to replicate real human-like movements is an extremely clever technique. The older version of Pat is portrayed through Barbie, and her husband is played by Ken. The squad of male football players are played by a range of Ken dolls from the popular Barbie Fashionista line.
Pat’s voiceover narration in these scenes takes the audience through her life story. We switch between a close-up shot of Pat’s interview to home photographs and stop-motion scenes. It’s clear so much work went into making Panther Pat. Both it’s direction and editing beautifully comes together to form a unique re-telling on Pat’s life story.
Panther Pat: A Woman Defining History
Pat’s story is told through archival home photographs from her budding romance to her wedding day – documenting her most cherished memories. Brandon switches the scenes between Pat’s personal interviews to enactments by toys in a stop-motion form – a filmmaking technique which painstakingly takes hours to complete. Within the stop-motion process slight movements are photographed and edited together to make the scene appear seamless. The process replicates human movements to make the dolls come to life.
This footage is interspersed with vintage newspaper cuttings to show Panther Pat making headlines and growing in fame. Super quick edits fly through newspaper sources showcasing how Pat’s career blossomed over time through different headlines published across multiple outlets.
But as the only woman on the roster, Pat felt like she had to constantly prove to herself and to others that she was just as deserving to be on the field as her male teammates. Her journey is certainly one of resilience, perseverance, and triumph. Pat’s determination broke gender barriers. Interspersing archival footage with the stop-motion scenes of her nerve-racking game blends the two storytelling techniques together.
Achieving Her Childhood Dreams
Newspaper headlines showcasing her success, plays like a Hollywood biopic. There’s a clear three-act-structure running throughout this short film. We begin from her childhood dreams to her personal growth, and eventually her success in football. The flashbacks to Pat as a child clutching a football and watching in awe at the games on the TV proves that she made her younger self proud of who she became. But she never gave up on her other ambitions too. Eventually becoming a mother and continuing her passion in teaching, Pat is an inspirational female figure in sports history. Pat shows you really can achieve it all.
Mum, teacher, football player, yes.
Pat Palinkas on becoming it all.
However, the standout scene comes when Pat as a young child watches her future self on the big screen. The glow from the TV lights up her face in childlike wonder. This subtly tells us so much about her ambitions. She clearly always wanted to reach these heights but the awe of achieving her childhood dreams is still trying to settle in. If you’re a doll collector like me, you’ll certainly love this film.
Making Her Dreams Become The Reality
A short montage throws us into the present-day, where more female footballers are defining history with scholarships, female coaches, and referees becoming the first of their kind. But it all started with one woman defining the history of American professional football – and that’s Patricia “Pat” Palinkas.
Women making history, football history.
Panther Pat on females unafraid to make history.
Taking an extremely creative approach to documenting Pat’s life, Brandon perfectly blends personal interviews with archival footage and personal photographs. Panther Pat is an awe-inspiring documentary on a successful female who made her dreams become the reality.
But the documentary’s ending is both inspirational and melancholic as Pat passes the torch on to other women on the football field. Her story was just the beginning for women breaking barriers in American professional football. This documentary takes us through a fantastic portrayal of Pat’s life – from the child who dreamed to the woman who made history.
Rating: 4 Stars
Panther Pat is part of Filmotomy’s coverage on Tribeca Film Festival 2026.
You can also read reviews from our coverage on Sheffield DocFest including The Apologist here.