Rene's Career Runs To Script

Illawarra Mercury

Monday December 8, 2008

By BRETT COX

FORMER Keira High School student Rene Hernandez has won an Australian Film Institute Award for best screenplay in a short film.

The Ground Beneath was inspired by two of Hernandez's childhood memories.

The first involved an autistic boy who lived in his street and the second was his fear of dogs.

The short builds on the success of previous projects including his 2006 AFI-nominated short Small Boxes and In Too Deep, which was screened on Qantas' inflight entertainment and before the documentary Super Size Me at Dendy cinemas.

Hernandez, who no longer lives in the Illawarra, has said The Ground Beneath would be his last short before he makes the transition to feature films.

"In every feature film most people start off in short films and work their way up. That's how we learn the craft," he said.

Tom Green, 17, from Woonona, was nominated for the young actor award for his role in the movie, but he was beaten by Danielle Catanzariti.

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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