A short film by Sara Barnes and Emily Barnard about resilience, trust and hope. “Dear Heart” is an intimate glimpse into the mind of an ordinary 63-year-old woman who knows that being outdoors every day whatever the weather is the cure for succumbing to life’s ‘stop cards’.

The phrase 'Dear Heart' written in white, cursive script.
Black background with a white laurel wreath and text that reads 'Official Selection Northampton Film Festival 2026'.

Sponsors

Black background with white text and laurel wreaths. It reads 'Official Selection SHAFF, Sheffield Adventure Film Festival, 2026'.
Laurel wreath surrounding text that reads, "Official Selection Filmmaker Sessions Volume 3 2025."

Support our film

Support our film

A woman with long hair is looking at the camera against a  background The image contains overlaid text that reads, 'Dear Heart. I write a letter a day to you because you, dear heart, you are me. A short film about resilience, trust & hope. Filmed by Oomph Creative, words by Sara Barnes.'

Dear Heart exists thanks to two very passionate creatives. Until now, it’s been completely self-funded but to bring our story to a wider audience, we need your support. Every contribution helps us share the heart and sentiment of creative adventure with more people around the world.

Our vision

We want to share our message and vision of getting outdoors and celebrating life and nature across film festivals and following this, launch an online player for you to watch this film from home. All of this incur costs and requires your support.

The story behind the film

Not only does the film, Dear Heart have a beautiful story to it, so does how the film came about. Hear from the person behind the camera how this film came to be. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the film gets selected to be a part of this years’ Kendal Mountain Festival.

Update

We’ve currently submitted to the following film festivals and are awaiting responses:

Filmmaker Sessions - SELECTED!
Northampton Film Festival - SELECTED!
Fort William Mountain Festival - SELECTED!
Sheffield Adventure Film Festival - SELECTED!
London Mountain Film Festival - SELECTED!
Osprey Short Film Awards at Keswick Film Festival - SELECTED!
Oslo Short Film Festival
Seedlings Film Festival
Milton Keynes International Film Festival
The Manchester Health Film Festival
Holmlands Adventure Film Festival
Femmes en Montagne
Kendal Mountain Film Festival
225 Film Club Festival

£5

Friend

A heartfelt thank you for believing in our film and a big virtual hug from Emily and Sara!

£25

Supporter

Your name will appear in the credits under our “Supporters” section. Your contribution helps cover the cost of submitting to a film festival.

£50

Backer

Everything in the Supporter tier, plus exclusive access to our online player once the festival run is complete, so you can watch Dear Heart in full from home as well as festivals, fingers crossed!

£100

Sponsor

For companies and organisations who share our vision of getting outdoors and celebrating life and nature.

Your logo will be featured on our official film poster, in the end credits, as well as on our online player, showing your support to audiences at festivals and beyond.

If you can’t financially donate to the project, but would still like to support us, you can do so by sharing our film online. Head to our instagram accounts; @exploringemily and @bumblebarnes and share our Dear Heart trailer. Thank you!

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