“I actually met Pino Solanas, a famous Argentine director and senator,” Starr’s Mill Alumna and current freshman at Georgia Institute of Technology Anne Rentz said, “but by ‘met’ I mean I sort of passed by him, stunned, on the way into the theater to see his most famous film ‘Sur’ and mouthed ‘wow’ while he smiled at me.” Rentz had the opportunity to “meet” Solanas along with other international directors at the Cannes Film Festival in France last spring.

Rentz, with the help of alumni Emily Smith and Lexi Nails, created a short film called “Two Girls, One Ghost” and entered it into a film contest sanctioned by Clayton State, where Rentz was dual-enrolled her senior year, through Campus MovieFest. They were selected by CMF judges to have their film screened at Cannes, and all three participants were invited to attend the film festival in France. However, Rentz was the only one of the three able to attend this year’s festival from May 13-24.  

Her film made its debut at the festival in a small theatre that can hold around 40 people. “We did a pretty good job of finding people to fill it up, but I was too chicken to be in there myself and see how they reacted,” Rentz said. So instead of watching her own short film, Rentz went to Palais, the main complex, to meet new people and watch others’ films.

“There’s a tent for every country represented that houses some sort of representative film body,” Rentz said. “I went to the Argentine tent, being a huge fan of Argentine cinema.” Her main goal was meeting Argentine directors. “I met Luis Puenzo, another famous Argentine director who ended up chatting with me and giving me a kiss on the cheek,” Rentz said.

Her experience in this year’s festival gave her a new take on the film industry. “I’d go as far to say it was life changing, really,” Rentz said. She said that even though the industry is tough, the key to making it a reality is working hard and smart while building the right connections.

Walking away from this experience, Rentz benefited more from the lessons she learned at the festival rather than the screening of her film.“I think the most important lesson was that no matter how important or intimidating a person is, be they a celebrity you want to talk to or a representative from a production company you’d like to intern with, they are always human,” Rentz said. “You shouldn’t be afraid to speak up if you have something to say.”

Even though Rentz had the opportunity to be highlighted in the Cannes Film Festival, her main desire was to uncover the nuts and bolts of the film industry. “In fact, my film was of little concern in this entire festival,” Rentz said.

She spent the rest of her time in Cannes on the beach by her hotel, and she did some sightseeing and explored the nightlife in Cannes. Rentz spent ten days in France and left early, missing a day trip to Monte Carlo with the other CMF students, because she couldn’t miss graduation day. “Apparently graduating from high school was more important or something,” Rentz joked.