How uni student took the Cannes Film Festival by storm with a 15 minute short film

HOW at 22, Maeve McKenna, took the Cannes Film Festival by storm with a 15 minute short film — and her cinematic future looks bright.

Griffith University film student Maeve McKenna, 22 took her short film to Cannes. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

Although a budding actor, director and film school graduate, Maeve McKenna had never been to a film festival. So when her short family flick, The Secret Findings of Ethel P. Clearwater, was selected to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May, “I completely freaked out,” the 22-year-old says.

“It was just overwhelming.”

Even so, Maeve’s entire life had been leading up to such a moment. At the family home in Brisbane, her mum used to call her “a one-woman show for all my facial expressions when I was just talking to her”. The childhood shows she’d put on in the lounge room were full-on productions.

But Maeve’s ambition for a career in film couldn’t wait until she’d grown up: “I’d watch kid actors in movies and say to mum, ‘I really, really want to do that. I want to be in those stories,’” says Maeve, who at 13 joined the Brisbane Arts Theatre and later scored small parts in TV ads and a short film.

Cannes was McKenna’s first film festival. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

Maeve McKenna always knew she wanted to get involved in the film industry. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

But it was at Griffith University film school where the CommBank Australian of the Day truly pulled focus. “I realised I really wanted to tell stories and I thought I’d give being behind the camera a shot,” says Maeve. “I thought it would help me if I understood the whole process of making a film entirely.”

It certainly did. Her film school major work — a 15 minute short about a child detective who sets out to solve the mystery of her missing mum — took Maeve all the way to the world’s premier industry gathering. “Cannes was my first film festival,” she laughs. “So it was a big one!”

Once the nerves settled and she’d eyeballed a few celebrities, Maeve clicked to what Cannes is really all about. “Everyone is there to do business and buy and sell films so that was interesting and very informative,” she says. “I just tried to learn as much as I could about how festivals worked so when I go back next time I’ll be in the know.”

Spoken with the confidence of someone with Panavision dreams.

“Yes — film is it for me,” she says. “But then again I’m excited and scared at the same time to think that I’m just starting out. I have my whole time ahead of me and I don’t know what will happen and where it will lead me. Guess I’ll just have to find out.”

CommBank has partnered with News Corp Australia to champion the Australian of the Day initiative which celebrates people in our neighbourhoods and communities who really make a difference to how we live and who we are. You can read all their stories at australianoftheday.com.au, where you can also nominate someone you know.