All These Creatures selected for screening at Cannes Film Festival

Cannes/France - May 8: Cannes Film Festival. Photo: harryhardtop, Bigstock

A film shot in the Melbourne suburbs has been selected for official screening at the upcoming Cannes film festival.

The film, All These Creatures, follows the tale of a 13-year-old boy as he attempts to put together a picture of his father as he worries about the man that he may one day become.

Being named for official competition at the Cannes Film Festival is an incredible honour with the film being only one of eight selected from nearly 4,000 entries.

Charles Williams, the writer and director of the film, said that it was challenging to find the right actor for the film and intentionally left the personal characteristics blank when writing his story. He said that there was a particular thing that he was looking for in the lead role, “It’s tough to find a kind of maturity and innocence that comes across visually” Charles Williams said.

He said that as a result, he left the casting of the main character “open to gender and race” believing that those things didn’t matter for this story. As a result of the openness to casting, he ended up with an incredibly diverse range of children, around 400, from which to choose from.

Eventually, Charles Williams found Yared Scott, an Ethiopian boy who had been raised by his adoptive parents in Melbourne. Surprisingly for Williams, Scott did have some previous acting experience making the filming process slightly easier.

In rewriting his story to fit the chosen actor, Charles Williams brought in members of the Ethiopian community to ensure that the film was culturally sensitive and true. This also made things more comfortable for Scott who hadn’t previously been introduced to members of the local Ethiopian community.

The film now set for the Cannes Film Festival was shot in the streets of Dandenong giving it a sense of authenticity. Williams believes that “Dandenong is one of the most interesting parts of Melbourne” continuing to say that not only is it multicultural, it is also visually diverse.

Charles Williams has plenty of experience and success in writing and directing short films having features in over 50 international film festivals prior. However, he said that being selected as part of the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival would definitely rank as his highest honour and most exciting.

The Cannes Film Festival begins on Tuesday, May 8 in Cannes France and concludes on Saturday, May 19.

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