Filmmaker reveals hardest moment in powerful Dare To Hope documentary on Paul Dear’s cancer battle

Award-winning filmmaker Peter Dickson has opened up on the hardest moment during filming of his latest documentary Dare To Hope.

Dare To Hope explores Paul and Cherie Dear’s relentless pursuit to defy the odds, raise awareness and demand funding for research to find innovative treatment options for pancreatic cancer.

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Paul Dear is a former Hawthorn star, who played 123 games with the club from 1987 to 1996 and won the Norm Smith Medal for his performance in the Hawks’ 1991 AFL grand final triumph.

He was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in September 2020 and told his condition was incurable and terminal, but dared to hope he could be the exception.

After a 21-month battle, Dear passed away in July this year. During that period he maintained his determination to live without fear and teamed up Dickson to document his journey.

Dickson, who is a good mate of Paul’s, said making the film got seriously tough at times.

“The one night that really got to me was the four kids … I’m so impressed with the children and how they’ve gone through the whole journey and the way they opened up for this,” Dickson said in a Q&A after the premiere of the documentary this week.

“One of my joys of the whole process was that night on the couch where we were all chatting. I didn’t really do much work to be honest, they were just all into it, they understood what the film would be, there love for their dad and mum was just clearly evident and I think you see that.

“There’s no work in what I’ve done with that … that’s just natural.

“It was emotional, it got really tough at the end editing. The ending was a real battle.”

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The film documents one of the final moments in Paul’s life when Cherie takes him to watch the sunset at Ricketts Point.

Paul passed away just two days later with Cherie revealing she still held hope of a miracle during those final stages.

“We did live with hope and I certainly don’t regret that because even if you know it’s your last day, do you want to spend it miserable and feeling sad and sorry, or do you want to bring every ounce of joy out of it as you can? So that was the attitude we took,” she said.

“We continued to live with hope – looking at (the documentary) now I can see how thin Paul got and he was clearly declining.

“But on that Wednesday night we went to Ricketts, I had a two-hour consultation on the phone with a scientist and a CEO of an organisation in Sydney that believed they are on the brink of a breakthrough with immunotherapy and CAR T-cells.

“So we were actually talking about – if we can just get Paul well enough to get to Sydney … we always kept living with the (hope) – maybe we can get you over this hump and then try something else.”

In the documentary, Paul reveals he didn’t fear death and hopes the Dare To Hope initiative can turn into a positive.

“Just trying to make something good out of a shitty situation and if I can lead the way and get the word out there. Even if it’s a day longer that’s a day you get that you didn’t have. It’s really how you should live your life,” he said.

“I don’t want to die, I want to be here for everything, be here for all my kids, be part of that absolutely.

“What is there to fear? I’ve always lived my life by focusing on the things you can control. There’s a hell of a lot of people have left this earth without the warnings.

“Ultimately, fear of death is FOMO (fear of missing out).”

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