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The Pretend One

A coming of age drama about a 27 year old imaginary friend who lives in an isolated town with his female creator. They’ve been best friends their whole lives and the relationship has always been completely platonic. But when the creator begins to fall for a real man, the imaginary friend realises he’s in love with her. He sets about trying to win her for himself, but it’s obvious that he can’t compete in the real world. He must become real himself.
He tests out his boundaries, tries moving objects and learns that he can channel energy when he becomes emotional. But as he moves closer and closer to becoming real he pushes the girl he loves further and further away. Talking to someone others can’t see has always caused her to be outcast. The imaginary friend realises that she can’t grow up while he is around. If you love something, you have to let it go and he must learn to stand on his own two feet.

Legacy

Have you ever wondered what you’re doing with your life? Whether you’re making the most of it? What mark are you going to leave on the world? Well Ian Davis and Scott Sullivan are forced to answer these questions.Both are thirty something men have been diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (MND), a disease with no known cause, no known cure and no effective treatment and has a life expectancy of approximately two to three years. To describe MND in Ian’s own words (a Doctor in a cancer ward), “MND is a progressive neurodegenerative affliction, a gradual imprisonment, where an accumulation of disability leads to a gradual but inevitable reduction in independence.”I urge you to read this intimate and revealing article Ian wrote in Melbourne’s The Age to truly know the questions these two face.

The Age: Six Pack of Courage

In the end of Ian’s article he refers to a quote by Victor Frankl, a Jewish-Austrian Neurologist from his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, after surviving a German concentration camp - “Everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” And this is the unbreakable spirit Ian and Scott carry with them as they set out on a One Million Metre ride (1000kms) to raise money for support and research into MND.With a custom made tandem bicycle, one that has hand cranks to cater for Ian’s failing leg strength and foot pedals as Scott’s arms are loosing motor control, these two characters will set out to build awareness for their often overlooked disease.We will hit the bitumen with Ian and Scott as they journey down the east coast of Australia on their tandem bike and parallel the difficult road that lies ahead. This tale will warm you to the core, not only because of Ian and Scott’s audacity but the generosity it evokes from the community around, knowing that there is still good to be done in the world.Ian and Scott have committed to 100% transparency; to answer any questions that are thrown at them, about acceptance of their disease, surrender to the inevitable, the fears they have and will face, their unavoidable death and finally what mark they are going to leave on this world. They understand that if they are going to carve out change in this world then people need to know the struggles that MND suffers face.Legacy is not a story of tragedy; this film is about the enduring human spirit in the face of the ultimate, forcing everyone to confront those big questions.When asked of Ian ‘Why do a ride to raise money for charity?’ his reply was “Because I still can.”