Dares is a summertime coming-of-age story, following two teen girls exploring their friendship and more. This short film is produced by Akiatta Productions, filmed in its enterity in Castlepoint.

Dares is the story of Cam and Elise, two best friends enjoying the summer in a quaint little town along the coast. Bored of swimming every day, the two look for something to do, their brains stumbling upon dares, an old game they used to play with each other. While starting in a playful and innocent way, things get heated up as they begin pushing each other’s limits, in a way bringing out something new in their dynamic. Feelings they have been holding onto tightly finally starting to bubble over.

As the light begins to fade, the two return to Cam’s home for famous mac and cheese, only to be unpleasantly surprised by Peter- a boy Ruth, Cam’s grandmother, wants to set up for Cam. The four do sit down for what ends up being an awkward and uncomfortable experience for Cam. Later, seeing a tense Cam, Elise suggests they go out for ice-cream. As they enjoy their ice creams by the coast, they play one last round of dares. Cam, after a long and emotionally challenging day, finally embraces her true self and give Elise the dare one last time;

I dare you to kiss me.

Dares began as an exploration of female friendships. There's this common thread for a lot of queer women- a teenage homoerotic friendship that comes to a head and explodes, leaving both sides burnt. It feels almost like the first safe space a queer girl gets to push the boundaries of what it is to be attracted to the same sex. Dares is the story of that, but in my mind, with a happier ending. I will forever and always think that more queer stories need to be told, and specifically happy, sapphic stories. Dares is my attempt to add to that world.

Cam and Elise, and Peter, even Ruth, feel like people I’ve met, people I’ve seen in the media, people that could be very well playing out this exact story somewhere else in the world. It's real, it's raw, it's something that authentically speaks to experiences I know others have, and something I want to give out to people to resonate with. If I was still a young teen, a movie like this would’ve changed my perception of self.

That's dramatic, I know, but as a young person, I had so much solace in film. I learnt to be funny off comedies. I learnt how to comfort people from dramas, I understood myself through the lens of characters I liked. Dares is the movie I wish I had seen when I was 15, when I was still struggling with my own sexuality, because it would’ve made me feel a little more normal about the fact I was finding my own friends attractive. Not in a self assuring way, but in the way that I couldn’t conceptualise marrying someone of the same sex at the same time I was forcibly being outed about it. A movie like this would’ve made me feel just that little bit normal enough to weather that crap.

Plus, I think with any art, we just want to put our heart out into the world, don’t we?

I also think it's pretty freaking cool to go and make a beach movie, to enjoy the challenging process of bringing something to screen I’ve championed. I want to hopefully bring this creative process that feels like those lovely long summer days at the beach, where you come home and lay on the couch, fuzzy in the warmth of a sunburn, and create a movie that feels the same.

Hopefully, Dares will dare people to be braver, to let the world love more freely, but most of all, even if the whole world doesn't see it, I get to make something to contribute to things I care about.