A FILMAKER who honed his craft while growing up on the Tweed will make his Byron Bay Film Festival debut this month.

Fresh from premiering at Cannes Film Festival and winning best film at the West End Festival in Brisbane in May, filmmaker Lachlan Linton-Keane will bring his new film, Elly, to Murwillumbah's Prince Regent Theatre for the festival.

The film, set around a teenager named Tom who's grappling with grief following the death of sister Elly as he makes his way into manhood, was written, directed and produced by Linton-Keane.

"It's a dark drama in a broad genre spectrum, and it's a film that deals with loss and deals with grief,” Linton-Keane said.

"They're really universal themes and audiences can connect with that universal theme which is explored on a personal level.”

Exploring different genres is part of the growing process for Linton-Keane, who is compiling a slate of projects in the hope of one day working on feature films in Hollywood.

Dreams of working with films' heavyweights in Tinsel Town were cultivated on the Tweed, where Linton-Keane grew up before heading north to study film at Griffith University in Brisbane.

The Banora Point High School graduate said the region provided a great grounding for his film career and had always played a big role in his film making process.

"Back in high school, I was always filming stuff with mates and when I made my first series short, I came back to the Tweed to film that.

"So the area has always been a part of my film making,” Linton-Keane said.

"It's an awesome area and that's what we love about it.”

Although Linton-Keane has featured at the world's biggest film festival at Cannes, France, he said his Byron Festival debut was a big coup, with thousands of entries vying for a spot.

"Byron is one of the real premier festivals,” he said.

"To get into Byron is huge kudos for any film maker, so I'm really excited.”

The film is lead by Brisbane actress Sharnee Tones, who won Best Actress at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in September for her portrayal and Rick Mitchell, who plays Tom.

Elly

Where: Prince Regent, Murwillumbah.

When: Sunday, October 23 at 4pm.

Tickets: Byron Bay Film Festival