Julia Leigh unveils her debut feature “Sleeping Beauty” In Competition, while Ivan Sen will unspool his low budget digital film, Toomelah, in Un Certain Regard.
SYDNEY — It doesn’t phase Australian novelist-turned filmmaker Julia Leigh that she’s up against more seasoned directors like Terrence Malick, Pedro Almodovar, Nanni Moretti and Lars Von Trier at this years Cannes Film Festival, after her debut feature Sleeping Beauty, was named overnight as one of nineteen films In Competition for the 2011 edition of the fest.

“I’m deeply grateful to be participating in a festival which has long shaped my love of cinema,” said Leigh said Thursday.

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Eltham is a long way away, and a world apart, from Los Angeles. No one knows that better than Emily Browning, the wide-eyed ingenue who divides her time between her home town and Hollywood.
‘‘It’s kind of a trip being in LA sometimes – you see people that have only ever been part of your world through television and movies,’’ Browning says. ‘‘But at the same time working with these kinds of people, you also become very aware that they’re just human beings.’’

Browning, 22, is perhaps Eltham’s most famous export. Her rise started when she landed her first role in the made-for-television film The Echo of Thunder, opposite Judy Davis in 1998. Following her successful debut, Browning went on to appear in Blue Heelers and the Billy Connolly-led film The Man Who Sued God in 2001. Her career was made in 2004’s Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, staring Jim Carrey.

The Eltham native still calls Melbourne home, despite a demanding international career, overseas travel and auditioning, filming and promoting her growing number of projects.

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Despite the glamour and smiles at last night’s Australian premiere of Sucker Punch, all is not well with the action fantasy.

Set partly in a brothel and full of the kind of costumes that haunt the dreams of 14-year-old boys, the film is battling allegations of sexism from the critics.

Its Australian star, Emily Browning, who walked the red carpet at Event Cinemas in George Street last night, has hit back at the claims, telling the BBC the story is about ”girls breaking free”.

”I find the idea that it’s sexist really bizarre,” she said.

”The sexism is within the story of the film. Within the brothel, the girls are being objectified, but that doesn’t mean the film is doing the same.”

The critics disagree. Britain’s Daily Telegraph called it ”a cacophonous, militantly stupid orgy of guns, knives and explosions”.

Variety said it was ”likely to sucker fanboys while leaving those who crave humanity and good old-fashioned storytelling feeling like cavemen who’ve stumbled into Times Square”.

All that and Browning and her co-star Abbie Cornish still managed to smile for the cameras.

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EVER wondered what an actress needs for three all-over-the world premieres.

Actress Emily Browning arrived back in her adopted home of Los Angeles from Australia, almost crumbling under the weight of her red carpet requisites for the Zack Synder’s adventure fantasy, which were packed into at least six pieces of luggage.

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