Dragon's Breath

I think there is a misconception that in order to be meaningful or important, films have to be sad, or dark, or difficult. I often wonder why we don’t assign the same importance to joy – especially when, for a lot of us, happiness is harder to come by and harder to sustain. My favourite films, and therefore probably my biggest creative influences, are the movies that made me feel good – classic 80s movies, Bollywood, and female-led indies with a light genre twist. Not all of these films are happy from start to finish, of course, but there is joy in the execution. The films I want to make are the films I want to see: funny, queer, sometimes dark, but always with that element of light. If I did my job right with DRAGON’S BREATH, the emotional trajectory of the audience will, I hope, be something akin to surprise – humour – secondhand embarrassment – joy.

The biggest thing that drew me to this story – and why I wrote it – is because I still feel like these characters, even as an adult. We all have things that we’re self-conscious about or afraid we’ll be judged for – but it’s a feeling that is especially pronounced in teenage years, and one that most of us remember clearly. Some of the characters in the film have very “real world” problems (like divorcing parents) while others have more fantastical problems (growing dragon wings or goat hooves). I chose this magical realist approach because I wanted to emphasize the way we imagine our personal insecurities (particularly physical ones) to be extremely obvious and even grotesque to others around us. Even though in reality, everyone has their own shit going on and most people are too caught up in their own problems to pay that much attention to ours.

It was also important to me to create a world where being gay or gender diverse isn’t seen as out of the ordinary. Queer characters in DRAGON’S BREATH are just normal kids – their struggles aren’t related to “coming out” or to their queerness. Although Cass’s character arc can certainly be read as a metaphorical coming out of sorts – her story is more broadly about self-acceptance and learning to embrace and even love our perceived flaws, no matter what they are and who we are. And whether you’re queer or straight or anything else, this theme is universal. This is also a film about the importance of community and friendship, and the power and confidence that comes from facing the world as a team, rather than taking everything on individually. For young queer kids in particular, feeling part of a community can be absolutely essential for survival.

I didn’t figure out my own queerness until I was an adult, in large part because there were no examples of queer women (and queer teenagers) in media when I was younger. While things are a bit better today, there is still a dearth of stories about young queer female and non-binary characters and friend groups, and I know this project will appeal to an underserved but very eager audience. Ultimately I hope it creates a bit of joy for anyone who sees it – and maybe offers some comfort to anyone who still feels a little out of place, no matter what age they are.