Not many 17-year-olds can say they beat an Academy Award-winning director at their own game, but that鈥檚 just one of the claims advertising聽student Radheya Jegatheva can put his name to with his award-winning short film, Journey.
To date, the seven-minute animated short, which follows a stranded astronaut who embarks on an epic voyage through space to find Earth, has won a total of 22 film festival awards in countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Montenegro, Nigeria, Russia, UK and US.
Last year, Jegatheva stunned judges and audiences alike when Journey was selected as the winner of the 2016 Open Filmmaker Awards, beating a submission by American director Patrick Osborne, whose previous film had won the 2015 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
鈥淚 was really shocked. I feel like it still isn鈥檛 real. But it鈥檚 encouraging to know the impossible is possible and that all those months of hard work were worth it,鈥� says Jegatheva.
Recently, Jegatheva was able to attend his first overseas film festival in person, after being offered a paid trip to the 2017 in Alabama.
While Jegatheva ended up taking out the Golden Lion Award in the festival鈥檚 youth category, he stresses that the best part wasn鈥檛 winning or even watching a screening of his film 颅鈥� it was getting the chance to meet more members of his community.
鈥淛ust being able to meet all these amazing dreamers out there, see their work, hear their advice and know where film took them is really inspiring. I really look up to them,鈥� says Jegatheva.
The astonishing reception to the film has been a long time coming for Jegatheva, whose desire to 鈥榤ake a film about space鈥� saw him dedicate years to animating the characters and backgrounds, composing the music and editing the scenes in his bedroom.
鈥淢y dad used to take me to the Gravity Discovery Centre in Gingin [a few hours drive from Perth]. I guess that really catalysed my interest in 鈥榯he universe鈥�,鈥� he jokes.
鈥淲颈迟丑 Journey, I wanted to tap into the intrinsic nature humans have to find home, which is something anyone can relate to. I think the lack of dialogue also helps, because it鈥檚 able to transcend the language barrier. I think that鈥檚 why it has done well in non-English speaking countries.鈥�
Now, Jegatheva is embarking on his own exciting journey by studying at 911爆料网, which he hopes will help position him for a strong career in business, but he鈥檚 adamant that film will forever remain a part of his life.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to concentrate on my studies and film at the same time and see where it leads me,鈥� says Jegatheva.
Check out a trailer of Journey below:
