BOOBIES SHORT FILM FUND
Cornwall, United Kingdom
Aim
To raise funds to make a bold, handmade Cornish short film exploring body image, belonging and the pressures young girls face to fit in.
BOOBIES
A 10-minute coming-of-age drama, short film set in Cornwall.
BOOBIES is an intimate coming-of-age drama that explores body image, belonging, and the quiet ways feelings of inadequacy begin to take shape during childhood.
Set within a stylised, tactile and delicate universe inspired by the early 2000s, the film follows eleven-year-old Charlie as she becomes painfully aware that she hasn't started puberty whilst the girls around her have. Convinced that her body is the reason she doesn't belong, Charlie begins to see the world through a distorted lens, believing everyone around her possesses a confidence that she lacks.
The Story
Charlie is eleven years old and hasn't hit puberty yet.
As swimming lessons approach, she quietly compares herself to the girls around her, becoming convinced that breasts represent confidence, maturity and belonging.
Through Charlie's imagination, the women and girls she encounters appear as life-sized puppets. Their bodies become objects rather than people, reflecting the way Charlie unintentionally reduces them to the physical qualities she envies.
Desperate to fit in, Charlie moulds Blu-tac into a pair of breasts to wear beneath her swimsuit.
But when she discovers that the girl she envies most is quietly struggling with insecurities of her own, Charlie begins to realise that everyone carries private fears beneath the surface.
Why This Story Matters
We often learn to judge ourselves and others through appearance. From a young age, we absorb idealised notions of beauty and ideas of what e.g. a girl or woman should look like through the environments we grow up in. We begin to question how our bodies measure up against these expectations, and over time, the comparison can become tied to our self-worth, confidence and sense of belonging.
BOOBIES was inspired by a childhood experience. When she was eleven, studying at an all-girls school, feeling self-conscious and out of step with those around her, writer-director Cordelia made a pair of Blu-tac breasts to wear underneath her swimsuit for swimming lessons.
When Cordelia began sharing this memory, other women began sharing their own experiences of feeling ashamed of their bodies from a young age, avoiding swimming lessons, feeling uncomfortable in changing rooms, or believing they didn't fit in because of the way they looked.
Feelings that began at early ages and continued to grow into adulthood.
The script evolved from these real experiences, using them as a starting point to explore the moment these insecurities first take root, and how children begin to inherit ideas about gender, beauty and identity long before they have the language to understand them, based on real experience.
It isn't possible to explore every experience of insecurity within a ten-minute film, and every relationship with our bodies is different. But the feeling of not being good enough is something many of us recognise.
BOOBIES isn't intended to stop people comparing themselves to others, or to suggest that a short film can prevent feelings of self-consciousness. Instead, we hope it offers a sense of recognition, solace as a gentle reminder that the people we compare ourselves to are often struggling with insecurities of their own.
While Charlie believes everyone else has life figured out, BOOBIES gently reveals that beneath the surface, everyone is carrying something.
Our Visual World
BOOBIES combines live action with handcrafted puppetry and practical effects to place the audience entirely inside Charlie's perspective.
Charlie is portrayed by a live actor, while many of the girls she encounters are represented by life-sized papier-mâché puppets. By seeing the world this way, Charlie unintentionally objectifies those around her, reducing them to the physical qualities she believes give them confidence, maturity and belonging.
Rather than using CGI or AI, we're creating this world entirely by hand.
We have already begun sculpting our life-sized puppets and developing subtle animatronic eyes that will bring them to life. During filming, the puppets will be physically rotated between shots, creating an uncanny illusion of movement that blurs the line between sculpture and performance.
Our visual approach draws inspiration from the mixed-media filmmaking of Jan Švankmajer's Alice, Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña's La Casa Lobo, alongside the sculptural dolls of Greer Lankton and the unsettling work of Gisèle Vienne.
(Below are examples of puppet inspiration by Gisèle Vienne and Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña.)
BOOBIES will be shot on 16mm film, whose tactile texture perfectly complements the handmade quality of the puppets and production design. The film has already been purchased for the production.
Sound will play an equally important role. Whispering classmates, echoing corridors, muffled conversations and distant giggles gradually intensify around Charlie, allowing the audience to experience the overwhelming self-consciousness of being eleven years old.
(Below are some preview pics of our puppets in progress- still with a long way to go! Plus a still from our 16mm test shoot).
A South West Production
BOOBIES is centred in the South West.
The screenplay was developed through Screen Cornwall and Exeter Phoenix’s New Writers Network, supported by the BFI, where the project received mentorship and development support.
The film will be shot entirely in Cornwall, including the changing rooms at Camborne Rugby and Football Club.
Our wonderful crew is mostly made up of Falmouth University students/ alumni and creatives based in Cornwall. By working with local cast, crew, artists and makers wherever possible, we're keeping the production rooted in the South West while celebrating the incredible creative talent that exists across the region.
By collaborating with Cornwall-based students, the project provides on-set experience whilst building confidence and skill set, allowing for progression in careers within the county.
Many of us have worked together on previous projects, and BOOBIES brings that team back together to create our most ambitious film yet.
Meet the crew
What We Need – £3,500
The director has already invested £2,500 of her savings into bringing BOOBIES to life.
That investment has enabled us to develop the project, begin building our sets and life-sized puppets, secure our collaborators, cast our lead actors, and move confidently into production.
We're now raising £3,500 overall to help us realise the film's ambitious visual world and bring Charlie's story to the screen.
Your support will help fund:
Paying our cast fairly for their time and performances.
Production and costume design, bringing Charlie's world to life.
Construction of our life-sized papier-mâché puppets, handcrafted specifically for the film.
Animatronic eyes, allowing the puppets to subtly come to life on screen.
Catering to keep our cast and crew fuelled throughout production.
Travel costs for our cast and crew during filming across Cornwall.
Equipment insurance throughout the shoot.
Sound design and post-production, helping create Charlie's immersive sensory world.
Festival submissions, allowing BOOBIES to reach audiences beyond Cornwall.
Showcasing the film in local Cornish spaces
Every donation, no matter the amount, brings us one step closer to making BOOBIES. Your support isn't just helping us finish a short film; it's helping us create an ambitious, handcrafted story that we hope will resonate with anyone who has ever felt like they didn't quite fit in.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing our Crowdfunder!
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 3rd October 2026 at 4:52pm