I’m raising £800 to complete Equinox, a 15-minute short film about adolescence, identity, and a girl’s silent love. It’s a quiet but powerful story that explores trauma, intimacy, and the delicate courage it takes to choose yourself.

I’m a postgraduate student at the University of Reading, studying Film and Creative Enterprise. This short film, Equinox, is my graduation project — a deeply personal story I wrote and will direct and produce with the help of a small, dedicated team of friends and collaborators.

We believe in intimate cinema that whispers before it shouts. Equinox is a quiet coming-of-age short film about a girl learning to name what she feels, in a world that taught her to be silent. At its heart, this is a story about queer desire and emotional safety — a tender and sometimes painful journey of a teenage girl navigating first love, friendship, and the trauma of school bullying. It’s inspired by real stories — mine, and those of people around me — of growing up as a girl who felt “different,” but didn’t know what that difference meant.

In this film, we don’t sensationalise trauma. Instead, we show the small moments that shape someone: the scent of someone else’s perfume, the first time your heart races for a girl, and the terror of being noticed for the wrong reasons. We hope this story speaks to anyone who has ever felt alone, ashamed, or left behind — and especially to those exploring their identity in a world that still makes it hard. By supporting this project, you help give voice to untold queer stories, and raise awareness against school bullying, emotional isolation, and the quiet ways they change us. This is a soft film, but its message matters.

We are aiming to raise up to £800 to cover essential production costs for our short film Equinox. All funds will be directly invested into bringing this emotionally honest story to life, with full transparency.

The funds raised will be able to cover the following:

• Location permissions and transport for the team during 5–6 shoot days.

• Costumes and props, such as school uniforms, perfume bottles, flowers, books, picnic supplies, and everyday items needed to reflect a teenage girl’s world.

• Set decoration and dressing for key scenes like the bedroom, classroom, and seaside picnic — including design materials to support the film’s visual metaphors.

• Catering and refreshments for the cast and crew during the shoot days.

• Travel reimbursements for actors, especially for longer commuting distances.

• Post-production costs, including data storage (hard drive), sound mixing support, and basic colour correction tools.

• Festival submission fees, allowing us to share the finished film with audiences beyond our immediate circle.

If we raise any extra funds above our target, this money will be used by the University of Reading Film Theatre and Television department to help promote our film and other films made by our fellow students. 

We’ve got some lovely rewards for every donor – from handwritten thank-you notes, to behind-the-scenes photos, to your name in the film credits, and even private access to the finished short before public release. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about Equinox. This film means a great deal to us, and we can’t do it without your support — whether it’s through donations, sharing the campaign, or simply believing in the story we’re trying to tell. Every gesture, big or small, helps us get one step closer to finishing a film that speaks for those still finding the courage to be themselves.

Thank you for being part of that journey.