PEGASUS HIGHWAY, 15min., Australia
Directed by Ethan Grahek
Two Bronies (Adult male fans of small, collectable Pony toys) are out to buy weed for their first time. Unbeknown to them, it is also their dealers first deal. What should have been a simple transaction quickly devolves, forcing one of the Bronies to chauffeur the eccentric drug dealer on a psychotic road trip. But there is more to these Bronies than the dealer could ever fathom.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
This film was my Honours film I completed at Deakin University, Melbourne.
For the very first assessment presentation I attended at uni, a young woman did a presentation on bronies, they really piqued my interest, i'd never heard of them before because I grew up in a small, rural town.
I went down a bit of a rabbit hole and discovered the uh... interesting... world of the Bronie fandom. Whilst searching I wondered how a Bronie would be perceived at my small town high school, that seed of an idea developed into the final film.
I thought the idea was pretty unique so that really motivated me to see it through to completion over the years it took!

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you
to make this film?
I conceived the idea in 2017 and began research and development of it for my Honours year in 2020. But we all know what happened that year. There were going to be heavy COVID restrictions imposed on our film sets so I decided to flee back to my hometown until the lockdowns subsided. I returned to Melbourne to finally complete the production in Oct 2022 - Feb 2023. So realistically, even though the process took all those years to finally complete, the actual time spent on it was approximately 7-8 months.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Unexpected, Whack

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The Covid pandemic for sure, plus the constant rain during production, as well as the long hours spent completing all the VFX solo.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking
about your film in the feedback video?
I honestly thought it was pretty incredible, almost surreal hearing people from another country comment on and more excitingly, seem to enjoy my whacky little film!
It was really great and insightful listening to people say they dug the details that you put so much time, research and effort into!

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
When I was in year 9. I originally thought I wanted to be an actor, growing up in a small town, there were very few opportunities to act so I started making youtube videos to practice, through this process I discovered that I found it much more endearing being behind the camera than in front of it.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
If we're talking about my entire lifetime, I'd say Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones.
If referring to my adult life, I'd say Two Hands.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other
festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking
career?
Honestly, the fact that you guys provide these feedback videos is awesome, and is certainly what drew me to screen my film with you!
Especially as someone that is fresh out of uni and can't necessarily afford travelling to film festivals.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your
experiences been working on the festival platform site?
I love FilmFreeway! It's so good having everything available in one place! Saves on a lot of the research time!

10. What is your favorite meal?
Burritos

11. What is next for you? A new film?
For sure. I've made up a bit of a roadmap of what I'd like to achieve over the next few years and next up is either an action short or a horror short about a drag queen. I'm thinking more likely the latter because action is very expensive.