My friend Michael Jones, winner of best NZ film at the Show Me Shorts film festival 2018.

A 'must see' film about youth in south Auckland has scooped three major awards at New Zealand's top international short film festival.

My friend Michael Jones is a 15 minute short film about a teenager, played by Villa Junior Lemanu, who has OCD and the struggles he faces.

The film won Best Actor for Lemanu's performance, along with Best Screenplay and Best NZ Film award at the Show Me Shorts event on Saturday night. It has also qualified for the Academy Awards.

Created by Ōtara residents and friends Samson Rambo and Ian Leaupepe, they say the film took two years to draft.

"It started with a group of us including Eldon Booth and Alex Lovell.

"As we developed the idea, we realised the story was much deeper than we had imagined. We were diving into issues such as mental health and suicide.

"Then we started thinking about young Pacific women and the dynamic of high school... it was a snowball effect."

Set in Ōtara, much of the filming took place at Rambo's former high school Tangaroa College.

And while the film touches on many subjects, he says, the main themes of the film are about acceptance and friendship.

"[We hope] people feel uplifted. Many different cultures can relate to a specific character," Rambo said.

"For young people, suicide is still a big issue in Aotearoa and if there is a way, we want to help open the dialogue and talk about these issues.

"For us, our backgrounds are dance and film, we weren't kind of allowed to do these things but we made the first step and now we're on the other side."

Festival judge Kimberly Wright said everyone who appeared in the film was 'phenomenal'.

"A truly phenomenal cast and powerful performances by all," she said.

"What an uplifting story with an important message about acceptance. So relevant and a must see for all young people."

My friend Michael Jones is screening at the Show Me Shorts film festival throughout the country until October 28. Go to www.showmeshorts.co.nz for session times.