My First Summer

A film set in rural Australia. Claudia is sixteen and lived in a farmhouse with her mother. Since her mother died she has not left the house. Nobody knows she exists. Her mother kept her off the records for years; she never went to school, never saw a doctor, and never spoke to anyone outside. One day someone appears in the garden. Grace is from the nearby town; curious, talkative, and not comfortable in her own house either. Grace comes back. Then she comes every day. From there the film runs across one summer. Grass, a creek, a shed, cassettes, and two people getting used to each other. There is a threat as well. The police believe a child is missing and the search continues; being found would not be rescue for Claudia but removal from the house. What the narrative is interested in is not love but hiding: the film shows that Claudia does not know the outside world and that Grace is describing it to her. The telling is plain. There is little dialogue, the music is soft, and the camera works in natural conditions to carry the rural light. The tone never slides into darkness; the matter of the mother and the search stay in the background throughout, but the film does not use them for suspense. It is Katie Found's first feature and she wrote it as well. Markella Kavenagh and Maiah Stewardson are in the cast; the film rests almost entirely on the two of them. Who it is for: anyone who likes calm, small-scale first love stories. Who it is not for: anyone looking for plot; the film is short and almost nothing happens.