This is a guest blog post from Screen Australia CEO Ruth Harley who is at the Cannes Film Festival. Screen Australia has partnered with YouTube on Map My Summer.

This year, the Australian line-up at Cannes is exceptional. A few days ago there was the world premiere screening of Australian feature film Sleeping Beauty, which is in competition for the top prize. Written and directed by novelist turned filmmaker Julia Leigh, this is a remarkable achievement for a debut feature film. Described as an unsettling erotic fairytale, it stars Emily Browning as Lucy a university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of beauty and desire.

Three other films are set to inspire audiences in Cannes. "Toomelah", written and directed by Indigenous filmmaker Ivan Sen will have its world premiere screening in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival and Nash Edgerton’s film "Bear" will appear in the Shorts Competition. "Snowtown", directed by rising talent Justin Kurzel, is also set to screen during International Critics’ Week.

Indigenous cinema storytelling is going from strength to strength. At home, Australian feature "Mad Bastards" has just been released in cinemas nationwide. This stunning and heartfelt film, directed by Brendan Fletcher, is set in the wild landscape of northern Aboriginal Australia. It’s received rave reviews and we are incredibly proud of this film at Screen Australia. It is most definitely one to see at the cinema.

In other news, last week we launched never-before-published information about the life cycle of Australian films in a new report Beyond the Box Office. The report takes a close look at how Australians are consuming screen media these days.

And finally, we’re thrilled to be collaborating with YouTube in what we think is an Australian first.Screen Australia has commissioned Australian filmmaker Amy Gebhhardt to make a ground breaking short film made with user generated footage from the YouTube Map My Summerproject. Amy is currently being mentored on the project by legendary filmmaker George Miller and the film is set to premiere at the Sydney Film Festival and on YouTube in June. We can’t wait to see it. For now, check out the latest weekly video blog from the Map My Summer production office with editor Nick Meyers:

Posted by Ruth Harley, CEO of Screen Australia