![Lachie and John co-stars Ned Van Rooy and Dan Haberfield at Warrnambool's Capitol Cinema. Picture by Sean McKenna Lachie and John co-stars Ned Van Rooy and Dan Haberfield at Warrnambool's Capitol Cinema. Picture by Sean McKenna](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/154914734/8f385a36-a87b-4870-a871-b489e74016f7.jpg/r0_480_6000_4000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
First-time actor Ned Van Rooy has been nominated for an award at an international film festival.
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The 11-year-old starred in short film Lachie and John, which was written and produced by and co-starred his cousin, Dan Haberfield, who is originally from Warrnambool.
Ned is nominated for the best performance award at the Worcester Film Festival in the United Kingdom, which runs in October.
He was only nine-years-old when the film was shot at Haberfield's brothers' rural property in Inverleigh, near Geelong, across two-and-a-half days in between COVID-19 restrictions in April, 2021.
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Ned, who lives in Warrnambool, said while the long days of filming were fun the experience on set was overwhelming.
"Before every scene I got told what to say. I'd only have a couple of sentences to say, so I could remember it pretty well," he said.
"During the first scene I was really nervous, I think I was shaking a lot, but after a couple of goes I felt really good."
He plays the lead role, with the film exploring the relationship between a father and son after the wife/mother leaves unexpectedly.
![Lachie and John co-stars Dan Haberfield and Ned Van Rooy. Ned said being part of the film was fun but overwhelming. Picture by Sean McKenna Lachie and John co-stars Dan Haberfield and Ned Van Rooy. Ned said being part of the film was fun but overwhelming. Picture by Sean McKenna](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/154914734/86656a8b-3355-45ee-aafa-966eb318b12c.jpg/r0_0_6000_4000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Haberfield said he had another family member in mind to fill the role but they had grown up "too quick".
"So I was thinking of the next step and Ned came up to me after watching another one of the films I did a few years ago and said he'd love to be part of it," he said.
It's not the first time Haberfield has featured family members in his films - his 2019 release The Demon featured his niece Dayna Haberfield.
"Predominantly it's got to do with the themes," he said.
"The roles where I've used family have father/child relationships and dynamics, so I suppose if you've already got that existing relationship it's a little bit more authentic.
"Then there's a convenience factor too about actually knowing those people when you've got a really tight, short timeline shooting and you need to get to that space quickly and efficiently.
"Having that background in place already is really beneficial, rather than trying to manufacture that relationship."
The film also received nominations in the UK film festival's best director, cinematography and film categories.
Lachie and John will premiere internationally at the Montana International Film Festival in the United States of America, on Friday, September 22, before screening in Worcester on Friday, October 6.
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