Merrick Rillstone is an 11-year-old aspiring actor who has since starred in an award-winning short film.

It was a role in a school production of Peter Pan that set Merrick Rillstone on a path to stardom.

The 11-year-old Hamilton boy never realised how much he enjoyed acting until he portrayed one of the swashbuckling pirates.

And after securing an agent and travelling to auditions, opportunity came knocking in the form of a short film called Sparrow.

Directed by Auckland University of Technology professor Welby Ings, Sparrow has gone on to win the Grand Jury Award at the Miami film festival, Outshine.

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The fim tells the story of a small boy who believes he can fly. However, his life is overshadowed by the legend of his grandfather who died a hero in World War II.

One night he discovers the tale is a lie, and that his grandfather was a gay man who, seeing the futility of war, deserted in protest when his lover was shot.

In unravelling the truth behind what happened, the boy discovers the strength to stand up to the bullies in his world in an unexpected way.

SUPPLIED Sparrow tells the story of a small boy who believes he can fly.

Sparrow was shot in six days in May 2016 and Merrick's hair was given a close shave to help him embody the lead character of Jim.

His most challenging scenes were having to run barefoot along a beach in the cold, and eating a tomato sandwich without grimacing.

His efforts paid off, however, with Sparrow being selected for one of this year's Cannes Film Festival's Beyond Borders: Diversity in Cannes Showcase.

"It feels quite weird in a way, having all these people watching you," he said.

The role of Jim was Merrick's very first time auditioning, and it was his youthfulness that enraptured Ings.

. Director and filmmaker Welby Ings doesn't write scripts - he draws them.

"We had short listed about 12 boys," Welby Ings said.

"At the beginning of the audition I asked each actor what he did when he got home from school.

"All but two of them said they played on Xbox​. Merrick however, looked a bit sheepish and said, 'I play monkeys in the trees with my brother'."

"When I asked each boy to put on a pair of paper wings and fly around the room, only the two of them who did not have their adventures in virtual worlds knew enough about how their bodies worked to convincingly show us that they could fly," he said.

That was two years ago now, and the young actor is hoping for another role to sink his teeth into.

But when he's not in front of the camera, the 1.6m tall Rototuna Primary School student is an avid basketball player.