by Dov Kornits
Perth raised, now London based filmmaker Radheya Jang and his father/producer/narrator Jay Jay Jegathesan spoke to us about the film and the experience of attending the feted Bondi Film Festival in January.
Radheya, how personal is Trading Cards? Was making the film a form of therapy in some ways?
“Trading Cards is a deeply personal film about my lived experience with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The idea for Trading Cards was solidified at a time when I was struggling with my mental health, and I wanted to make a film that encapsulated my feelings, but also to make a film that could spread awareness about the extent of how consuming OCD can be. I had a very narrow idea of what OCD was and wasn’t aware of the different ways that it could manifest, the different sub-themes and how many of them I had encountered over the years. In the film, there’s a focus on mental compulsions, rumination and anxious thought cycles. I have been diagnosed, and I don’t claim to be an expert on OCD or mental health, this film is more talking about my own experiences through an abstract character extension of myself, and there are so many other facets of OCD that aren’t touched here. The process of making the film was cathartic and I believe that it helped me get to the better state that I’m in now. Having a support network and people to talk to about it was really important, and that helped me immensely.”
The film is quite different to your previous work, stylistically and thematically. How did you come to this style, what inspired it, and is this the direction of animation that you would like to pursue in the future?
“It’s an eclectic film and there are a range of inspirations. I’d been wanting to use some of the ideas in the film for years, but didn’t know the right way to bring them all together. In 2023, I went on an amazing three-week film festival trip (Aporia International Village Film Festival) travelling through South Korea, and this is where many of these ideas came to one. I felt a lot of creative energy, and I was constantly writing down ideas on my phone. I have Korean heritage on my mum’s side, and it was incredible to be surrounded by traditional Korean architecture, which I incorporated into the designs in the film to reflect identity.
“There are also references to various folk tales and fairy tales from around the world. I have a great love of tarot cards and the artwork of Pamela Colman Smith, who illustrated the iconic 1909 tarot deck conceptualised by A. E. Waite, and there are a lot of tarot references and imagery weaved throughout the film. I also delve into my childhood interests, including prehistoric creatures (the skull on the entity in the film is modelled on an Irish Elk, which is an extinct deer species) and of course, my real-life obsession with trading cards when I was younger.
“The rendering of the characters comes from the mediums I used to love drawing with as a kid – oil pastels, coloured pencils and fine-liners, and I wanted them to feel very distinct from each other, but also have their respective elements exist within the same world – portraying that they’re from different time periods. There were a variety of techniques that went into the creation of the film, involving a combination of illustration and rotoscoping live-action footage and 3D animation, so it had a varied workflow. I do really like this new style and direction that I’ve ventured into with Trading Cards, and I intend to expand and develop on it in future work. I also like the wholesome aspects of my previous film Bird Drone, and I can see myself also making work that’s in that zone too.”
As an animator, whose work inspires you, Radheya?
“I love animation as a medium, and I love how many forms an animated film can take. A couple of my favourite animated shorts would be Ice Merchants (João Gonzalez) and Genius Loci (Maya Merigeau).
“For this film in particular, when I was travelling in Korea I had seen Rodrigo Goulão de Sousa’s trailer for Playground and I was so in awe of it. I love media that combines childlike elements with things of a darker nature, and so thinking about that was really inspiring for me. I’m a big fan of the horror genre, and I think you can see that in this film where I lean into the horror aspects of dark fantasy in certain areas.”
Jay Jay, can you discuss your approach to the narration on Trading Cards?
“I probably don’t think too much about an approach when I look at a script. It’s more a sense of ‘feeling’ it rather than thinking through it and planning it out.
“With my narration, it’s also taken quite a journey since I narrated one of Radheya’s films for the first time, and that was an animation of William Blake’s Romantic poem, The Tyger. Before that, performing felt like a closed chapter of my life. I’d been a stage actor years ago, but when I graduated from UWA in the mid-‘90s, I thought I’d left all of that behind. Somehow, through Radheya’s films, I found my way back into this wondrous world.
“When I first recorded The Tyger, I was still performing as if I were on stage, projecting outward, pushing the voice to reach the back of a theatre. When I heard the playback, it just felt wrong. Too big. Too distant. So, I stripped it all back and let the voice settle into a much quieter, deeper, more intimate register. That was the moment I discovered how I wanted to narrate, almost as if you’re speaking directly to someone sitting beside you rather than to a crowd.
“With Trading Cards, everything felt natural from the start. The script sits perfectly in that space, so the narration didn’t feel performed at all. It felt lived in. And that’s where I’m most comfortable now.”
Had either of you been to Flickerfest before, how was the experience?
RADHEYA: “I have had the privilege of attending Flickerfest once before, it was back in 2020, and I travelled alone. The festival was great and I still can vividly remember some of my favourite films from the festival and the filmmakers I interacted with. This year’s Flickerfest experience was made more special because I was able to attend it with my parents – the opening ceremony, multiple screenings including ours, and the closing ceremony too. I had some fantastic chats with filmmakers and creatives, genuinely such great vibes. We also got to spend some time with some of my dad’s friends that he’d known since school and uni. It had been a while since we’d done a trip together like this and it was a lovely time. I’m very blessed to have such an amazing mum and dad.”
JAY JAY: “I haven’t personally attended Flickerfest before, but I’ve followed it closely for many years. In fact, Trading Cards marks the fifth time one of Radheya’s films has been selected for either FlickerUp or Flickerfest over the past nine or ten years.
“In many ways, Flickerfest has always been quietly present throughout our family’s filmmaking journey, going all the way back to when he first made an animation about an astronaut witnessing the apocalypse from space almost a decade ago. Each new film feels like another chapter, and Flickerfest has been there, again and again, as part of that story.”
What’s next for you both?
RADHEYA: “I have a couple of short films in the works. One of them is a graphic animated horror-thriller about infatuation and obsession, set across numerous clubs and parties. It builds upon this direction created with Trading Cards, a similar esoteric dark fantasy and folk tale aesthetic, and this one incorporates more of my Indian roots from my dad’s side of the family. I was originally writing this as a feature film, so this would ideally be a proof of concept too.
“The other animated short is much more wholesome and hopefully quite heartwarming, funny and charming. It’s an ode to mothers (and grandmothers), and is centred around the Korean and Japanese food that mine lovingly made – and I ate! – as well as growing up Asian in a Western world. The film is told through my childhood obsession with dinosaurs and all things prehistoric.
“Describing these films, it feels like Trading Cards is linked to aspects of both films, and they’re almost branching out from it. I actually started writing and creating both of these years ago but put them to the side for differing reasons, and now they’ve been renewed with new life.”
JAY JAY: “I hope to follow Trading Cards on the international circuit for the next 2 years. I do think the film has the staying power given the start it’s had. The specifics are under embargo, but it has already been selected to a further 4 Academy Award Qualifying Festivals at this point in North America and Asia.
“I also act these days, and am very excited about a film I am in called The Bunny, which was written, directed, filmed and edited by 2 extremely talented 15-16 year olds, Isaiah Supadi and Oscar Smith. The name of the film might sound like it is a wholesome family film, but it is actually an intense horror short and has just secured its world premiere at a festival in the United States in March 2026. I think this duo has the talent to go very far. One of their most important film mentors is Steven J Mihaljevich who is brilliant at working with young talent. He brings out their best, whether it is as a young director or whether he casts them in a film, like Violett (with young Valentina Blagojevic) or The Shed, with Mani Shanks, which is having its Australian premiere at the WA Made Film Festival on the 20th of February.”
Trading Cards screens at Flickerfest’s tour of Perth on 19 February, more information here.
