Promising filmmaker submits short film into Port Shorts Festival
Entries still open
It’s fingers crossed for Jay Jay Jegatheva and his son Radheya Jegatheva who have submitted their short thriller/horror film into this year’s Port Shorts Film Festival.
As Newsport announced earlier this month, Port Shorts Film Festival is returning to town on 14 and 15 October, with this year being a live event again for the first time since 2019.
Having won three times before at Port Shorts with their short animation films, Mr Jegatheva and his son are now hoping to get selected for the first time with a live action film.
“It's a thriller/horror short film, shot in black and white with only one other colour running through it, the colour red,” Mr Jegatheva explained. “What's unique about this film is that it was shot in just one shot and one take.
“The movie is about the question of where the border lies. That line in life’s shadowlands between heroism and a plunge into the abyss? On an ordinary night, in a regular park, Mark Theo Carter will find himself confronting it.”
Mr Jegatheva said he loves the Port Shorts Film Festival. “Films by my son, Radheya and I have been selected to Port Shorts four times in the past, and incredibly, we have won three times with our animation films ‘Journey’, ‘iRony’ and ‘The Quiet’.”
Up-and-coming filmmaker
Mr Jegatheva works at the University of Western Australia and lives in Perth. According to himself, his son is more a filmmaker than he is.
“Radheya is at the start of his career and he's going to give it a go making it in film and animation,” he said.
“He started making short films when he was 10 years old, using my Macbook Air as his camera at the time. We thought it was just a hobby and told him to focus on 'real stuff' in school.
“But when he was 17 he beat the 2015 Academy Award-winning Walt Disney director Patrick Osborne to the overall prize at Port Shorts in 2016 with his film ‘Journey’.
“It was then that we realised he had potential in film and started fully supporting his study in that area, having initially been trying to dissuade him from taking up an 'arts' degree.”
The Oscars long list
Father and son have now made eight films together. “I have produced and narrated many of Radheya’s animated films,” Mr Jegatheva said. “This year, however, was my first time directing a film with ‘The Saint’.
“I got an easy job directing though as the lead actor is myself. Radheya is the producer, director of photography, editor and VFX (special effects) in this film.”
Believe it or not, father and son have won more than 400 awards around the world with their movies since the first award they won with Port Shorts in 2016. The movie ‘The Quiet’ even made the Oscars long list in 2021.
“I love the fact that we can reach across the globe from Perth, the most isolated capital city in the world. And I love that I have been able to work together with my son on multiple projects that have won critical acclaim.
“We are crossing our fingers and toes that we will be selected for this year’s Port Shorts Film Festival again.”
Short film entries close tomorrow, September 1, you can still enter your short film here: www./filmfreeway.com/PortShortsFilmFestival