Cerebral palsy sufferer Heather Rose, star and writer of the Australian film Dance Me to My Tune, made a fairytale entrance at Cannes as she was carried up the steps of the Palais des Festivals in the arms of her leading man. Rose paused for photographers before co-star John Brumpton carried her up the 24 steps to the main auditorium for the world premiere of the film directed by Rolf De Heer and presented in the competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

The occasion contrasted sharply with the bravura of Wednesday's opening night gala. Where thousands had pressed against the crush barriers to catch a glimpse of the likes of John Travolta and Sigourney Weaver, fewer than a hundred curious bystanders watched as the film crew, with Rose carried in their midst, waited in the traditional manner to be the last to enter the palais.

Pale in the bright Mediterranean light, wearing a gold-coloured dress, Rose clung to Brumpton's shoulder, her head lolling against his chest.Little bigger than a 10-year-old child, her bare feet dangling below her dress, Rose resembled nothing so much as an outsize Christmas tree fairy. At the head of the red-carpeted staircase Brumpton placed her in her wheelchair and she was led into the auditorium for the screening. Her performance in the role she had written for herself left critics gasping at the press showing a day earlier.

The film is a love story in which Julia, the character played by Rose, falls for a visiting stranger but sees him stolen by her sadistic carer. She uses all the means at her disposal to win back her man. Julia, like Rose, has been severely handicapped since birth, confined to a wheelchair and able to speak only through a voice machine. The film is billed as "by Heather Rose" and "directed by Rolf de Heer", and de Heer's direction is unobtrusive, placed entirely at the service of the screenplay.