SYDNEY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Melbourne-made short film All These Creatures was selected by the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday to compete for the 2018 Short Film Palme d'or.

Along with six others, the film was chosen from 3,943 short films around the world that were received by the Cannes selection committee.

All These Creatures focuses on the social code around mental illness and follows a 13-year-old boy who lives with a destructive father.

Screenwriter and director Charles Williams said he can't think of a higher honor for him than being selected by the Cannes.

After considering about 400 children for the lead role, Williams finally decided Yared Scott was the one.

"We had a whole range of kids, but we eventually settled on Yared Scott, who was born in Ethiopia and raised by his adoptive parents in Melbourne," Williams said.

To ensure the story is well matched for Scott, William consulted a lot of experts from Melbourne's Ethiopian community, and surprisingly everyone thought the film was written specifically about Ethiopians.

Shot in the culturally diverse area of Dandenong, the east Melbourne suburb provided the perfect gritty backdrop for the 13-minute film.

The official award ceremony of the 71st Cannes Film Festival will be held on May 19 in France.