A DOCUMENTARY about the life of a blind man from York is in the running for a top honour after being shortlisted for the Empire magazine film awards.

Shaun Lavery, who lives at the Wilberforce Home for the Blind, is the subject of the five-minute documentary made by four final-year film students as part of their course at the College of Ripon and York St John.

Shaun, 37, said he could not believe it when he heard the film, called Through The Eyes Of Ebony, was shortlisted for such a high-profile award.

He said: "I knew the film had been entered in a competition but when they rang me up to tell me what happened I was really shocked."

The film focuses on Shaun's life in his self-contained flat at the Wilberforce Home, but also follows him as he gets around York city centre in a wheelchair and by walking with a stick.

It also shows him singing at a wedding at the Rock Church, in Priory Street, and enjoying a drink at his local pub.

One of the student film-makers, Dave Cave, said they were "ecstatic" that the film was among the three chosen for the "heroism" category of the documentary section of the Empire awards.

Now Dave and the rest of the student team will be heading to an awards ceremony at London's famous Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square on July 5 to find out whether they have won.

Dave said the film was a very personal look at the life of Shaun and that it was originally a 20-minute film which had to be edited down to only five minutes.

He said: "The angle we decided to take was how he feels about being blind from birth. He has no idea how to perceive anything like colours. It takes the theme of how those of us who can see take for granted things like colours."

Dave revealed: "We didn't think the five-minute version was as good as the 20-minute version. But we were ecstatic to be shortlisted. We are not going to the ceremony with any expectations of winning. Just to get this far is nice but we are all final year students, so it would be a great way to finish our time at the college."