Alyssa McClelland's short film Second Best, which won her Best Direction in an Australian Short Film at the Flickerfest Awards in January, was shot entirely on location in Canberra over five days in late 2016.

The film, a dark comedy about the power of identical twin sisters and the unbreakable bond that binds them, was shot at Dickson College, in Kaleen and Fyshwick and included many locals as extras.

A gymnastics scene was shot in the gym at Dickson College and the judges were staff from Molonglo Group, who were executive producers of the film.

While most of the crew was from Sydney the gaffer, Grace Park, and best boy, Pete Maenad, were from Canberra.

"Canberra is a really film friendly city," says McClelland.

"It's easy to get around and everyone is very friendly but there's all this really interesting brutalist architecture as well.

"There's an awesome aesthetic that you don't really find in the other capital cities. You're able to tap into a really different look."

That said she admits Second Best has a very suburban feel and she had to contain herself when it came to choosing locations.

"I couldn't really make the most of it, I had to keep it suburban but as we were driving around I was thinking you could shoot some incredible stuff that embraces all that brutalness."

Local photographer Lee Grant, who recently won the National Photographic Portrait Prize, worked with McClelland on the making of the film.

"Lee was incredible," says McClelland. "I would give her my location brief and she would say Ii think you'll find that in this area, or maybe you should go here, and she drove me around scouting."

Grant also did the stills for the shoot and cast all the extras.

The Molonglo Group became involved through a long-standing friendship McClelland has had with the property developers.

"They love to support the arts and get behind creative endeavours and we're very grateful."

The long-running film festival, now in its 27th year, has proven a starting point for many cinematic talents with past entrants including Nash and Joel Edgerton, David Michod, Cate Shortland, Kriv Stenders, Warwick Thornton and Wayne Blair.

"It really is a breeding ground for allowing filmmakers to test their voices on the big screen and get acknowledgement for their work," says festival director Bronwyn Kidd.