by FilmInk Staff
On the night of Halloween, Radheya Jang’s animated short Trading Cards won the Oscar-qualifying award for Best International Short Film at BITBANG International Animation Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The win makes the film eligible to submit for consideration in the Animated Short Film category at the 100th Academy Awards (2028).
An Australia-UK co-production, the film was written, directed, animated, co-produced and edited by Radheya Jang [below, left], with Jay Jay Jegathesan [below, right] serving as producer and narrator.
Inspired by Radheya’s lived experience with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Trading Cards follows an enigmatic man who journeys back in time to find his younger self, seemingly to revisit the nostalgia of trading cards. The film explores identity, mental health, memory, nostalgia and the erosion of childhood innocence through a dark fantasy lens.
The Academy Award® eligibility is the culmination of a remarkable international festival run. To date, Trading Cards has amassed 155 official selections, 49 awards, screened in 41 countries, and been selected for 26 Academy Award®-qualifying festivals and 12 BAFTA-qualifying festivals, making it one of the most widely recognised Australian animated shorts of 2026 and underpinning one of the most successful international festival campaigns by an Australian animated short film in recent years.
The breakthrough in Buenos Aires follows a long journey through the international film festival circuit. Throughout 2026, the film picked up awards at some of the world’s most prestigious short film festivals, including:
Yoram Gross Award for Best Australian Animated Film at Flickerfest, Sydney, Australia.
First Prize for Best Short Animation at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, USA.
Audience Award (Animation) at Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, Tokyo, Japan.
Special Jury Mention for Story (Animated Short) at AFI FEST, Hollywood, Los Angeles, where the jury described the film as “a mesmerizing search for self-reflection, belonging and purpose.”
At BITBANG, Trading Cards was awarded top honours in international competition featuring films by some of the world’s most acclaimed animators and filmmakers, including multiple Academy Award nominee Don Hertzfeldt’s Paper Trail, Swedish stop-motion director Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s The End, British animator Elizabeth Hobbs’ The Daughters of the Late Colonel, Berlin Silver Bear winner Atsushi Wada’s Little Boarlet, and Apart, a short film co-written by legendary filmmaker and Academy Award recipient Spike Lee.
The film’s international festival run has also brought significant recognition, including Best International Short Film at the Adana Golden Boll Film Festival in Türkiye, the Coup de Coeur Prize (Festival Favourite Award) at the Marrakech Short Film Festival in Morocco, a Special Jury Mention at SXSW London, and the Bronze Audience Award for Best Animated Short at the renowned Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada.
In Australia, the film’s original score by Nicholas Gardiner won Best Music for a Short Film at the 2026 Screen Music Awards, presented by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers. In its home state of Western Australia, Trading Cards made an equally remarkable impact, taking home five awards at the 2026 West Australian Screen Culture Awards (WASCAs), equalling the record for the most awards won by a single film. These included Best Short Film and Outstanding Achievement in Performance, with Jay Jay Jegathesan becoming the first voice performer to win the category.
Reflecting on the film, Radheya explained: “Trading Cards explores my lived experience with OCD and the complex relationship we have with identity and nostalgia. I was nervous about sharing something so personal, with characters who are direct extensions of myself. I’ve been deeply touched by the messages I’ve received from people around the world who have connected with it in different ways.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the collaborators who brought the film to life, including sound designer James Utting and Factory Studios owner Anthony Moore, composer Nicholas Gardiner, and colourist Andi Chu from Electric Theatre Collective. It’s been particularly special to have the support of our Executive Producer, Bart Yates, who has mentored me over the years and introduced me to Factory and ETC. I’ll cherish the experience of working with them and hope we can make more films together.
“Winning this award feels surreal, and I’m especially happy to share it with my wonderful dad, who felt like the perfect person to voice such a personal character. He has always championed and supported me throughout my life, and helped me get through some dark days.”
Producer and narrator Jay Jay Jegathesan spoke on the significance of the achievement: “I’ve had the privilege of watching Radheya make films since he was a child. What has always impressed me is his willingness to tell stories that are honest, personal and sometimes vulnerable, and to back himself and his ideas. Trading Cards is perhaps the most personal film he has ever made.
“The irony is that the more personal it became, the more universal it seemed to become. Audiences from completely different cultures somehow saw their own fears, memories and younger selves reflected in the story. That is something no award can measure.
“Winning an Oscar-qualifying award is an extraordinary milestone and one we are immensely grateful for, but the greatest reward has been watching this film find a home in the hearts of people all over the world.”
For Radheya and Jay Jay, the result marks the culmination of years spent building a body of work that has steadily climbed from local screenings to the world’s biggest stages. For an independent Australian animated short inspired by a deeply personal story, there can be few more fitting endings. Then again, with the 2028 Oscars now in sight, perhaps this is only the beginning.
