Young actor Javier Jones had always loved drama classes at school.

The 12-year-old Larrakia student said it was the teachers who made it enjoyable.

His talent for the dramatic arts is palpable in his debut short film, Mungo, which has already nabbed awards both on home soil and internationally.

Javier is the lead in a true story of a young Aboriginal boy who leaves his family behind to join the circus in 1853.

The film has screened at Monaco International Streaming Festival, won Best Director Awards in New York and Best Indigenous/Native Peoples Film at Cannes World Film Festival.

Becoming the lead was serendipitous. Director of the film Leonie Kelly found Javier online and contacted his mum Alicia Jones.

After a Zoom call, Kelly offered Javier the role.

Beyond his talent for the arts, and his ability to light up the room, Javier shows a great deal of respect for those around him.

He said it was not only memorable to be part of an Indigenous story but was also thankful to the Traditional Owners in Tamworth for allowing him to come onto their land.

"It meant a lot to me that the Gamillaroy people, the land we shot (Mungo) on, accepted me to play one of their own," he said.

"Even though they hadn't met me and they knew nothing about me.

"They accepted me to play one of them. So that was really cool."

Once he started acting, it wasn't hard for Javier to get into character.

"Because (the character) was basically me," he said.

"When Leonie was explaining the role to us, we were like 'is this me?'"

Alicia said it wasn't hard to see her son in the role.

"The role was just like this distracted kid who liked to play in the bush and was off with the fairies lagging behind everyone else," she said.

"It's like it was written for him."

Javier said the role gave him his first experience of what it's like to be an actor but it's the people he'll remember the most.

"(My favourite part) was definitely the people that I met and the relationships I formed," he said.

"Not only the cast but the crew, makeup and wardrobe people as well."

Watching from the wings (or behind the scenes) Alicia said it was surreal to see her son in action.

"It was just really amazing to see them direct him, to see when they asked him to do something, him pull it off and deliver what they were wanting him to do," she said.

"Seeing it on the screen as they filmed it, it was like watching a movie.

"So that was pretty unreal."

Although it is his first role, Javier has no signs of slowing down and is currently working on a major project off the back of Mungo.

Mungo will premiere at Deckchair Cinema in Darwin as part of their Deckchair Cinema Short Film Program.