My First Summer

My First Summer is a 2020 Australian coming-of-age film written and directed by Katie Found. It stars Markella Kavenagh and Maiah Stewardson.

Plot
After 16 year-old Grace witnesses a woman drown, she tracks down Claudia, the girl who was there at the drowning. Claudia, also 16, lived an isolated existence with her mother, the writer Veronica Fox, with no contact with the outside world. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that Claudia was unable to commit suicide with her mother and watched her mother drown in the reservoir. As a witness to the death, Grace is interviewed by the police, but lies about having seen Claudia after meeting her and wanting to protect her. Grace is determined to help Claudia through the tragedy and introduce her to things from the outside world, including candy and strawberry milk, to help her discover herself.

Though Grace is unhappy in her own life, living with her mother and step-father who argue, she returns home. In her absence, the police arrive to look at Claudia's house as part of their investigation into her mother's death. They find Claudia and her mother's dog, Tilly, and take it with them. On her way back to Claudia, Grace encounters the police and lies, telling them that the dog is hers in order to get it back to Claudia. Grace and Claudia's friendship turns romantic and Grace stays overnight with Claudia, partly to escape her own home life. In the morning, Grace leaves to purchase more strawberry milk. When she goes home, the police are waiting with her parents and have figured out that the dog is not hers. Grace and the detectives go to find Claudia as the police cannot let a 16-year-old live on her own. When Claudia sees it is the detectives, not Grace, who have arrived, she runs and attempts to drown herself in the reservoir where her mother drowned. Grace runs after her and pulls her from the water.

Cast

 * Markella Kavenagh as Claudia
 * Maiah Stewardson as Grace
 * Edwina Wren as Veronica Fox
 * Steve Mouzakis as Detective Croydon
 * Harvey Zielinski as Detective Jones
 * Katherine Tonkin as Donna
 * Arthur Angel as Mike

Production
My First Summer is Found's debut feature film.

Themes
My First Summer is a queer coming-of-age film, though it focuses on the characters' love story rather than coming out or explicitly discussing sexuality.

Release
My First Summer premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2020. It was released as part of the BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival online in March 2021.