One of Australia’s most original and poignant dramas, the award winning, festival favourite Skin Deep

In the gritty setting of King Street, Newtown in Sydney’s colourful Inner West, troubled gay University student Caitlin Davis (Monica Zanetti) meets Leah (Zara Zoe), a straight and straight-laced young woman from the other side of town.

Although the unlikely pair are reluctantly thrown together by circumstance they discover a surprising natural bond. When Leah reveals she’s actually dying of cancer, Caitlin sets them out on a “Bucket list” style journey through Newtown, determined to help Leah come to terms with her illness and possibly find some meaning for herself.

Skin Deep is the directorial feature debut of award winning VCA graduate, Jonnie Leahy, and was recently recognised as Best Indie Film by After Ellen and was singled out for honourable mention in the Narrative Competition at The Austin Film Festival 2014. It received a nomination for Best Original Feature Film at the AWGIE Awards in 2015, and this year screened at the MiFo Film Festival in Florida, the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and many others.

Producer Rosie Lourde said, “Skin Deep is a darkly comical, but ultimately inspiring, urban adventure story that many Australians will relate to. It follows the raw and tender journey of a young woman discovering the courage to embrace life as she comes to terms with her diagnosis of terminal melanoma.

As Leah’s adversary and confidant in this journey, Caitlin confronts similar issues around acknowledgement and self-acceptance – revealing how similar we all are beneath the surface, no matter how we appear on the outside. We are humbled by how touched the test audiences have been by this film and we are excited to bring this beautiful story to Australian cinemas.”

The film represents a strong push for women in cinema, with female acting leads, and a female writer and producer. The film’s writer and actor, Monica Zanetti, has garnered great praise for her efforts in bringing to light her personal experiences with Melanoma and raising awareness of the deadly cancer.