Jake Mavity gets under the skin with Calico

This short film, which was released yesterday, on World Vitiligo Day, is a brilliantly unusual, touching and compelling story of a young girl struggling to find her place.

Directed by Jake Mavity through Rogue Films, and co-written by Mavity and his wife Sarah Mavity, who also acted as producer, Calico follows a 15-year-old girl called Lorrrie [played by Malaysia Newland, in her first acting role] who has vitiligo and who feels unsure and embarrassed about her body. 

She is picked on by some of her classmates, gets into trouble for not taking part in her swimming lessons, and receives a sanctimonious dressing down from a teacher. That same teacher, though, has a goldfish on her desk which, it transpires, can talk.

Voiced by comedian Jamali Maddix, this goldfish is a calico goldfish, one which has both orange and silver scales and so, like Lorrie, has a form of vitiligo. Asking Lorrie to help him escape the confines of his tank, the pair then go on a daring journey, which also happens to be one of discovery for Lorrie, who comes to realise the beauty of her condition, and the power of being different. 

The film was a labour of love for Mavity, who also has vitiligo and who says that "the emotional truth [in Calico] is what I felt when I was 13", and below he explains more about the concept of the short and what drew him to make it.