Helena Brooks – director of New Zealand's latest In Competition-selected short Nothing Special – took time out from strolling down the red carpet to explain to EMMA BLOMKAMP in Cannes how one guy in France can send you into a world where dreams are merely a natural extension of a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck.


AFTER WHAT she describes as the "psychologically taxing" process of making a short film, Helena Brooks questioned her ability to pursue a career in the overly competitive world of cinema. Following completion of her short comedy Nothing Special late last year, she stashed the film at the bottom of a cupboard, believing its title too apt. Then, all of a sudden, critical approval fell from the heavenly blue skies above France. It had been decided that Nothing Special was special after all. So special that it was selected to compete at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Only nine short films were selected this year to compete for what is arguably the world's most coveted short film award, the Palme d'Or. One of them was Nothing Special, a cute black comedy about a young man's quest to avoid the limelight after growing up with a deluded mother who believes him to be Jesus reincarnate.

While writing the script, old friends director Helena Brooks and New Zealand TV personality Jaquie Brown delved into their pasts to create the tale's quirky characters.

"Jaquie's mother is quite religious and my parents are very new age – a bit of merging and exaggeration spawned Heather, the mother in the film," says Helena, one of 11 children whose nomadic upbringing saw her attend 15 different schools all over New Zealand and Australia.

Despite their bizarre life experiences providing a wealth of material, the original script was far from perfect, and the duo were initially rejected funding. This turned out to be merely the beginning of a long series of knock-backs that, Helena says, with the benefit of hindsight, taught her a lot.

"Everything went wrong," she says, explaining how they encountered difficulties getting all the scenes and shots filmed within a tight 6-day schedule while coping with the loss of both their producer and executive producer.

After all that hard work, not to mention a difficult time in post-production, Helena wasn't even proud of the outcome. "I felt really bad about it, it wasn't the film I wanted to make. I even began thinking maybe this wasn't the career for me."

"But then one guy in France said he liked it," says Helena, and that's all it took, "to restore my faith in the film – and in myself."

Nothing Special joins the ranks of other New Zealand short films to be distinguished by selection in Cannes Competition including Media Studies 101 favourite Kitchen Sink (director Alison McLean), Sure To Rise (director Niki Caro, who went on to make Whale Rider), and last year's Closer (director
David Rittey).

"It's the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me," the Auckland University graduate states matter-of-factly, sitting on the sunny balcony at the New Zealand Film Commission's Cannes office, overlooking the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. "In the last few days I've walked down the red carpet with Scarlett Johansson, Woody Allen, Paris Hilton, Val Kilmer, Natalie Portman... It's been amazing!"

"I'm definitely having a great time," she says. As she tosses up whether to check out the star-studded premiere of the latest Lars von Trier film or drop by an exclusive cocktail party that evening, she admits, "It's hard squeezing everything in."

The second-time short film director is learning a lot as well, and is certain she is making real contacts. "Cannes is great for exposure," she explains. It offers the perfect opportunity to pitch the feature film she and Jaquie Brown are writing.

And how does it feel to be a 29-year-old from a small country on the other side of the world with a short film in the running for a Palme d'Or at its world premiere?

Before the official screening, Helena says she feels "excited and nervous".

"I really don't expect to win," she admits. "It doesn't matter if I don't, that's not why I'm here."

Just as well, perhaps, because the Short Film Palme d'Or went to Podorozhni (Wayfarers) by Ukrainian Igor Strembitskyy. Helena wasn't fazed, though. Just being invited to the Cannes Film Festival, she says, "is some kind of dream come true".