A FILM made by an Amblecote teenager has been screened at a prestigious film festival in Canada.

Max Tobin, aged 15, was ecstatic when he found out his work had been selected for The Reel Youth Film Festival, particularly as it was the first time he had submitted one of his films for inclusion.

His short-film, The Light Switch, was shown at the event, which forms part of the Vancouver International Film Festival, on September 29 and October 2 and over the next 12 months, it will be screened at more than 30 locations all over the world.

Describing the film, Max said: “It is about an autistic boy who is comforted by simple things - routine, light switches and ice lollies but his condition, combined with his terrible honesty often gets him into trouble.”

He added: “It’s a comedy film but it isn’t offensive. I don’t know anyone who is autistic but I saw a feature on the news and then did some research and decided to make the film.”

The Haybridge High School student, who has been making films since he was nine, was originally inspired by the films of his youth but now aspires to be like Quentin Tarantino.

Max had help from his friends at the Hagley Theatre Group, who gave up their time to act in the film, which took two months to make.

He said: “Getting into a film festival has been a big dream of mine.”

The teen added: “If I had the money, I’d like to make a war film or a big science fiction movie but at the moment, making comedies is my favourite. This is my dream, I want to go to university and study film production and then hopefully break into the film industry.”

The film is available to watch on Max’s website, www.tobinfilmstudio.com