Aussie short film 'Summer Suit' hits world stage

An Australian short film made on a shoestring budget has been selected from thousands of entries for screening at the prestigious Slamdance Screen Festival in Utah.

"Summer Suit" tells the story of a teenage girl from a migrant family growing up in rural Australia.

The film has critics raving about the acting debut of a novice11-year-old, hand-picked for the role from the schoolyard.

"It was so much fun. The funniest thing I have ever done. An amazing experience," said Lucy Tyler.

Director Rebecca Peniston-Bird discovered Lucy at her sons' primary school.

"She took to it like a pro and when she stepped on set, it was the very first time she had been on a set, she did remarkably well and we worked her extremely hard."

Lucy plays Robbie, a ten-year-old girl who struggles with childhood epilepsy, but gains confidence from wearing a favourite suit she finds in a wardrobe.

In the role of Robbie's Italian-born father is Damian Walsh-Howling, perhaps best known as hitman Andrew "Benji" Venna-min in the Underbelly television series.

"My mother is actually from Italy so there was something that I really loved about this gentle sort of role and I have played a lot of non-gentle roles!" said Mr Walsh-Howling.

Writer Francesca Sciacca based the story on her own childhood experiences.

"I did wear my brother's suit and I did wear it down at my father's service station. And I was the boss and I was running the show."

The film is set in the 1980s and with limited funds, capturing the car models, phones and clothing from the era proved a logistical challenge.

"We had to be very resourceful so all our period costumes and sets we had a budget of about fifteen hundred dollars," said director Ms Peniston-Bird. "Almost all our costumes were sourced from op-shops and or borrowed from people."

Slamdance is a double-triumph for Walsh-Howling, with "Suspended", a film he has directed, the only other Australian offering to be hand-picked for screening.