Courage– A Hiking Short Film

Courage is my very first foray into narrative filmmaking! This was a fun creative stretch. Courage is a zero budget film about a woman on her first backpacking trip that I wrote, directed, shot, and edited. I had the help of a few wonderful actors and crew to create this piece. It was a lot of fun to try my hand at a new creative outlet.

I would say the nervousness before a first solo backpacking adventure is a pretty universal experience. Stepping out into the unknown always requires a bit of courage and pushing beyond what is comfortable. Just like with making this film, you can’t learn and grow without first venturing out into the unknown.

In this film in particular I’ve portrayed a bit of what it’s like to be a woman on trail. The “helpful” or “well-intentioned” advice of a fellow hiker comes across as creepy and unnerving even if none of the actual words are inappropriate. I think many women hikers can understand this feeling not just on the trail but in the rest of life as well. Navigating the world as a woman is a unique experience and colours our perception of interactions, whether well-intentioned or not. I’ve personally encountered this situation on trail where a few seemingly simple comments on being a woman alone from a male hiker have me looking back over my shoulder for miles. The message is not to shame men on trail, but to bring to light how a bit of unsolicited advice or words of caution can feel to a female hiker. I have, of course, also had dozens of very positive interactions with all genders of hikers and believe the outdoors is for everyone. There’s always room to grow in how we address and interact with our fellow hikers on trail, and by offering words of encouragement instead of unsolicited warnings, we can make the outdoors feel safer for new women backpackers. There are more and more women out on the trails every year, and my hope in creating content has always been to encourage more women to get out and backpack!

Thank you to everyone who made this film possible, I hope you enjoy it. I learned a lot in the process of creating it and can’t wait to bring more hiking stories to life.

Courage over comfort <3