Director: Radheya Jegatheva

Film: Bird Drone

Bio: A heartfelt story of unrequited love explored through a lonely seagull struggling to accept that his newfound object of affection is a human-operated drone with a limited battery life.

Radheya Jegatheva is an Oscar-qualified and AACTA-nominated filmmaker from Perth, Western Australia. Born in Malaysia at the turn of the century, Radheya’s films have have garnered 39 Academy Award-qualifying Festival selections. He has spoken to thousands of school students over the years with an aim to encourage young people about being involved in the arts, and his works have been used as an educational tool in schools and universities around the world. His animated short film ‘Bird Drone’ was shortlisted for the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards.

His short film ‘The Quiet’ was Oscar-qualified, landing on the longlist for the Academy Award for Best Short Animation in 2021. His live-action short ‘Pacing the Pool’ won Best Short Documentary at the BFI Future Film Festival 2023, and was shortlisted by the World Health Organisation for the Special Prize for Rehabilitation.

Radheya is passionate about film, and the value of using film and animation in educational and social development contexts. He has also animated and contributed to various large-scale multimedia installations and public projects, and performed animation and VFX work on Lynette Wallworth’s ‘How to Live…’ which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.