Beautifully Scarred

The Story

Body image struggles and body confidence is not a new concept to anyone, but understanding the correlation with cancer patients is. Ashleigh, a young director, has seen several family members battle cancer treatment so now embarks on a journey to find out what happens when treatment is over. This journey begins with a deep dive into the lives of two breast cancer survivors who are now finding their way through life with a changed and scarred body. Caitilin, a mother of three boys, shares her journey from diagnosis to now, in two years remission, and opens up about the tactics she has used to help focus on the future rather than the past. Similarly, Jo, a mother of two daughters, shares how she founded a charity to ensure other women have the best experience in the worst situations. But for both ladies there is one more step they hope to take in order to feel whole again. Therefore Ashleigh joins these ladies on their personal journeys as they turn to nipple tattooing and body painting to celebrate their bodies and how strong they have been so far. In turn sharing with all cancer survivors out there that there are ways to love yourself, even when scars cloud both body and mind.

The Crew

Director: Ashleigh Huggins

First time Director, Ashleigh, has returned to the world of documentary with Beautifully Scarred after being inspired by the strong women in her life. With several family members having battled cancer and prevailed, her eyes were opened to the concept that the battle isn’t over when the treatment ends. Finding ways to help better an individual’s life and empower all those battered and scarred from cancer became her calling. No longer staying in the lane of cancer treatment as so many previous films have depicted, it was time to stand out and create a resource for those out there that are still finding their way back to normalisation.

Ashleigh was the producer on Fearless (2018) and Equus Ferus (2018), where she has gained a vast array of experience across fiction and non-fiction styles and found the next step was to jump into the role of director and take control of the creative vision. 

From shaving her head for the Peter MacCallum Centre to volunteering on the marketing team of the RCD Foundation, Ashleigh is always finding ways to engage with different charities and social enterprises in fun and interesting ways. So the next step became connecting with women who run breast cancer charities and understanding their stories, and engaging with the amazing strength they bring forth to the world for themselves and those around them. 

Producer: Maddy Owen

Having always had a passion for film, Maddy has enthusiasm for creating content that tells impactful stories. Through her university degree, she has experience in working with a range of people to bring their stories from the page to the screen. In 2018, she produced her first documentary ‘Surf Mermaid’ (dir. Charlotte Rowson) which won ‘Best Documentary’ at ‘Peninsula Film Festival,’ and screened in London at the ‘Little Wing Film Festival.” She has no doubt that 'Beautifully Scarred' will have a positive impact on it's audience, bringing post-treatment options for Breast Cancer survivors to their attention and showing that there are ways to regain your strength and self-esteem after a long journey battling the disease. Through Jo and Caitilin's personal and empowering stories, 'Beautifully Scarred' aims to demonstrate to everyone that beauty can be found in strength and the scars from battles we conquered. 

DOP: Daniel Tritt

Daniel has always been fascinated with connecting stories to audiences; whether it be through Music, Theatre or Film. His passion for documentary and visual storytelling has seen his work resonate with global audiences with films screening in Australia, India, USA, UK and China, and FRIZZ (dir. Ivy Mutuku) winning best film in its category at the VMC Film Festival in Melbourne. His fascination lies in finding meaningful human stories, exploring new perspectives and shining a light on issues often underrepresented in our society’s discourse. As the Cinematographer, Daniel’s visual exploration of the issues explored in Beautifully Scarred such as body image, femininity, surviving cancer and healing from trauma, aims to embrace and support the strength of Jo and Caitlin whilst communicating their stories visually with honesty, dignity and respect. Daniel hopes to continue to engage with a range of significant social issues and experiences through documentary, creating a platform for nuanced discussion and change.

Sound Designer: Rebecca Dent

Rebecca Dent is a Sound Designer and Editor based in Melbourne. Rebecca was first drawn to Beautifully Scarred after seeing a family member go through breast cancer, it became important to her to work on this story as a way to share and understand the experience of what happens after treatment ends. In working on this film, Rebecca found the healing process Jo and Caitlin discuss in reclaiming their bodies to be a powerful message she can apply to her own life. Rebecca has sound designed and edited for the short film, When Life Gives you Melons: The Dilemma with Dyslexia (2018) and edited on various other shorts including Room (2017) and Pussy Boy Troy (2018). She has experience working with content creators, local government, and Melbourne-based production houses from videography to assistant editing. However documentary is her passion, and will be working meticulously to bring the intimate and often overlooked aftermath of cancer treatment to light through the sound design of the film. Rebecca is working closely with the director to ensure that the themes of empowerment and strength stand at the forefront of this film.

Editor: Henry McDowell

Henry McDowell is an editor and content creator from Melbourne, Australia who loves creating fun and engaging digital media. His work includes Bitten Tongue (2021), Snooze (2019), Fearless (2018) and One Take (2018). Having lots of family experience with breast cancer, Beautifully Scarred was a story that really connected with him, and being able to tell both Caitlin and Jo’s story was a huge honour for him. He has also ventured into freelance work, creating content for Bellwether Agency, The Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital and sporting highlights reels for a range of different disciplines. He’s also a musician and likes to look for ways to create fun content through a combination of music, editing and visual effects. He likes to tell stories through methodic editing, and enjoyed the process of evoking emotion through the cutting of Beautifully Scarred.

A documentary like this cannot be made without help from generous donators, and our biggest challenge will be covering the cost of travel to various locations, as well as feeding crew and those we interview. Any donation big or small is playing a part in helping us bring this important message to the screen; you will be supporting not only us young filmmakers, but breast cancer patients and survivors who continue to battle the effects of the disease. 

Any funds raised above our goal will be donated to multiple breast cancer charities.