About
14-year-old Ava is struggling to retain normalcy in her family home dominated by her sister Charlotte’s eating disorder. She threatens to reveal Charlotte’s secret exercise regime to their parents, as her sister becomes increasingly obsessive.
Approximately 4% of Australians are affected by eating disorders with the average onset being between ages 12-25.
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As a few members of our team have recovered from eating disorders, we wanted to authentically reflect our experiences in a film to share the importance of family support and the difference that compassion, kindness, and empathy from loved ones can make when recovering.
My Sister Charlotte is an intimate short family drama about two sisters navigating the silent devastation of an eating disorder, as memories of childhood collide with the painful realities of recovery, testing the limits of love, loyalty, and understanding.
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A lot of media commonly misrepresents eating disorders on screen through glamorisation, stigmatisation, or normalisation of harmful, dangerous behaviours which can prevent people struggling with disordered eating from getting help due to feeling shamed, dismissed, or even reinforced.
Through My Sister Charlotte, we hope to combat misrepresentation without featuring triggering content or scenes that may inspire harmful behaviours. We also hope this film can act as a support resource for families caring for a child recovering from an eating disorder.
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The project is a 4th year graduate film made in Swinburne University of Technology, for the 2025 class of the Bachelor of Film and Television (Honours).