Out Takes

Even though we are at the start of a new year, we wanted to take the time to spotlight a TV series that came out at the end of 2025 that has literally taken over social media (and our lives) plus made us all into big fans of ice hockey. ‘Heated Rivalry’ came out in late November and took the internet by storm with its good-looking cast, romantic storylines, and steamy gay sex scenes. As the first season rolled out over six episodes, the fandom grew and it was easy to see why this Canadian-made show set in the world of professional ice hockey was winning hearts all over the world at a time when representation of LGBTQIA characters in television and film are under threat. With the final episode still playing on repeat in our hearts and minds, we took this opportunity to take a look at the ‘Heated Rivalry’ phenomenon and explore its history starting out as a series of novels through to its development as a television show along with its cultural impact broadly and from a gay perspective. We also took a look at some of the films we’re looking forward to seeing and reviewing in 2026 including ‘Pillion’, ‘Supergirl’, ‘Heartstopper Forever’ and more. Happy New Year! The post ‘Heated Rivalry’ plus films we’re looking forward to in 2026 appeared first on Out Takes.

With 2025 coming to a close, we thought it would be a good time to revisit some of our favourite interviews from the past 12 months. We’ve been fortunate to speak to so many great filmmakers, actors and industry creatives over the year and quite honestly, we could do another 5 of these interview highlight shows and still have more leftover. For this special, we revisited our interviews with Tracie Laymon, Karan Soni, Roshan Sethi, Andrew Ahn and Kate Woods to discuss their respective projects, careers and more. If you enjoy these interviews and want more then you’re in luck – check out more from the past 10 years of the show on our podcast feed and also find us on social media to see what’s coming up on the show too. Happy New Year, we’re looking forward to bringing you more of the best in queer film and television in 2026! The post Out Takes 2025 Interview Highlights appeared first on Out Takes.

We know that ‘Best of’ lists can be problematic but with the end of the year fast approaching we wanted to share with you some of our favourite queer films and television shows for 2025. In no particular order, we offered up three picks each that reflected some of the best shows and movies this year that showcased representation from a LGBTQIA+ perspective on our big and small screens or was just something that brought us some joy and that we loved watching in a very challenging year. Let us know if you liked our selections, think we made a mistake or missed one of your faves by dropping us an email or messaging us on our socials. Happy holidays and here’s to a very queer 2026 for us all! The post Out Takes Best of 2025 appeared first on Out Takes.

The year was 2016 and two weeks out from Christmas, a new show started on JOY that promised to bring you the best in queer film and television every week… and on Monday December 15, Out Takes celebrated 10 years on air and on podcast and everyone was invited! For this very special live show from the JOY studios at the Victorian Pride Centre, we were joined by some very special guests, including Cinema Nova CEO and friend of the show Kristian Connelly, along with a shout out from our London-based international correspondent Dion. We also had some great giveaways courtesy of Eclipse Cinema and Cinema Nova plus we reminisced on some of the many highlights and memorable moments from our last decade bringing you the best in queer film and television. Thank you for your support and for listening!   The post Out Takes celebrates 10 years on air! appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we decided to get into the festive season by looking at two new Christmas themed films that explore queer stories within the family dynamic that is often overlooked in these genre. First up we took a look at ‘The Christmas Writer’ from Tello Films which is the first network dedicated to telling stories featuring and about lesbian/queer women and is the world’s longest running LGBTQ+ streaming platform with the biggest library of sapphic holiday films available anywhere. Their latest sapphic holiday-themed film follows Noel, a bestselling lesbian Christmas author who loses her holiday muse and experiences writer’s block, so she returns to her quaint hometown in search of renewed inspiration. What she finds is an unexpected love story that even she couldn’t have written… We really enjoyed this film and jumped at the chance to speak to Christin Baker, the film’s director and CEO of Tello Films, and Stacey Lee Powell, her real life partner and one of the stars of ‘The Christmas Writer’, from their homebase of Nashville. We covered a lot in this two-part interview, including the intent behind Tello Films, the importance of representation in lesbian and sapphic series, movies, and shorts plus the all-important question, what makes a great queer Christmas movie. We then moved on to ‘Oh.What.Fun.’, the new Christmas film streaming now on Prime Video, with an all-star cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Denis Leary, Chloe Grace Moretz, Felicity Jones, Danielle Brooks, Jason Schwartzman, Eva Longoria, Maude Apatow and Joan Chen. We had high hopes for this one, especially with a queer character in the mix, so listen to our review to see if it lives up to the hype. The post ‘The Christmas Writer’ with special guests Christin Baker and Stacey Lee Powell plus ‘Oh.What.Fun.’ appeared first on Out Takes.

For this special Out Takes episode, we headed back in time then back to the future in honour of JOY 94.9’s 32nd on-air anniversary and World AIDs Day 2025. We started off by using the 1993 December 1st start date for JOY to reflect on what was happening in queer film and television during this period and also check in on where we were at on our specific queer journeys and what we were watching at the time. We then caught up with Cal Hawk from Thorne Harbour Health and one of the hosts of Well, Well, Well on JOY to discuss the importance of World AIDs Day, the history of HIV and AIDS activism in Melbourne, and some of the seminal films and TV programs that have shaped the discussion around HIV/AIDs over the years. We then finished up with some television and film recommendation’s that we have previously discussed focusing on HIV/AIDS that are available to listen to now in the Out Takes podcast archive. The post JOY’s 32nd anniversary and World AIDS Day 2025 appeared first on Out Takes.

As is our way at Out Takes, we literally had something for everyone this week! The highly anticipated second film of the most talked about movie musical in years, the return of a fantastic local documentary to a local streaming service, a queer Christmas radio play from one of our own that is on around Melbourne for a limited run, and a review of a new psychological drama that is in Aussie cinemas from November 27. First up, we discussed our return to Oz with the release of ‘Wicked: For Good’ and had our say on whether it’s a perfect part 2 to one of the biggest films of last year or left us wanting more. Needless to say, it’s a celebration of diversity and queerness that we need more than ever, and we love seeing Cynthia, Ari and Jonathan belting it out on our big screens. We then welcomed back Sue Thomson, the local filmmaker whose delightful documentary ‘The Coming Back Out Ball Movie’ is heading to DocPlay this month. Following its release in 2018 at the height of the marriage equality debate, this wonderful celebration of LGBTQIA+ elders is an incredible legacy piece that is well-worthy of a re-watch plus we hear more from Sue around her memories from that time, her thoughts on the current landscape for Australian documentaries and more. Our second interview for the show was with one of our very-own as Demetra told us all about her latest creative venture that is having three special performances around Melbourne in the lead up to Christmas. Billed as a live queer radio play, “Coming Out for Christmas” is the story of a queer young Greek-Aussie woman, who brings her Aussie girlfriend home for her family’s Christmas lunch and discovers her conservative family is hiding from everyone. This is a comedy about family, community, and living your truth. Our final review for this show was ‘Lurker’, a new film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and screened at MIFF this year where it garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews. The film follows Matthew as he manages to infiltrate the inner circle of a rising pop star, Oliver, and glories in his new status as an indispensable member of the entourage. But when Matthew realises how easy he is to replace – or even worse, that he is not as important as he believed – he will go to any lengths to stay relevant to Oliver and his crew. The post Wicked: For Good, Coming Back Out Ball Movie, Coming Out for Christmas and Lurker appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we welcomed the return of Melbourne’s very own queer film festival with a selection of reviews, took a look at a new local show that promises to be a feisty feminist murder mystery plus we checked in on Eclipse Cinema, the latest independent cinema to open in Melbourne’s Northside. First up, with the 35th Melbourne Queer Film Festival under way, we let you know about a few of the films we’ve seen that you can check out in this year’s programs, including In Transit, She’s The He, Hot Milk and 300 Letters. We then moved on to ‘He Had It Coming’, a new Aussie series coming to Stan on November 20 that bills itself as a feisty feminist murder mystery that has an impressive international cast set against the backdrop of a fictional university in Adelaide. We finished up by turning the spotlight on to a new independent cinema that has opened up in the heart of Melbourne’s Northside. Eclipse Cinema is found in Collingwood’s former Sherrin factory and is now home to a single-screen cinema that’s pairing new and recent films with classic must-sees. We caught up with Mark Walker, the owner and operator of Eclipse Cinema, to find out more about his love of cinema, how he decides on what to screen each week and more. The post MQFF 2025, He Had It Coming and Eclipse Cinema appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we kept it eclectic by discussing the latest all-star female focused series from Ryan Murphy that the internet cannot get enough of, a documentary about one of the most respected and queer friendly world leaders, and we welcome the return of Melbourne’s very own queer film festival. We started off with ‘All’s Fair’, the new TV series that has received some of the worst reviews in recent history while generating excellent ratings and major online buzz. Is it a case of its-so-bad-it’s-great or something more predictable at work here like good old-fashioned misogyny? With a cast including Glenn Close, Niecy Nash, Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, and Kim Kardashian, and with Ryan Murphy’s fingerprints all over it you can guarantee it looks good and is camp AF so based on that you will either love it or loath it! We shifted gears dramatically to review ‘Prime Minister’, a new documentary that chronicles Jacinda Ardern’s tenure as New Zealand PM where she navigates crises while redefining global leadership through her empathetic yet resolute approach, including being recognised as a political ally to the LGBTQIA+ community. We finished this show with a two-part interview with one of our favourite returning guests, Melbourne Queer Film Festival’s Program Director Ro Bright. Along with taking us through the program and a few of their personal highlights and recommendations for 2025, we also discussed some of the many special events on offer and explored this year’s theme and what it means to be searching for queer utopias. The post All’s Fair, MQFF 2025 and Prime Minister appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes the theme of the show was ‘eclectic’ with a delightful mix including our review of JLo’s latest film (and her first ever movie musical), an update from our London-based international correspondent on the latest releases coming our way soon and we catch up with two special guests to discuss the power and importance of queer music videos. First up, we took a look at ‘Kiss of the Spiderwoman’. It started life as an award-winning novel. Then, a groundbreaking drama in the 1980s that won the late William Hurt a Best Actor Oscar. In the 90’s, it was transformed again – this time into a record-setting Broadway musical that bagged seven Tony awards. Now, nearly half a century on, the web’s being woven all over again with Jennifer Lopez taking one of the lead roles in this movie musical that is in cinemas now. Next up we welcomed back Dion Blackler, our UK correspondent and one of the co-hosts of the ‘In The Mood For Film’ podcast, to discuss the recent BFI London Film Festival which highlighted some of the queer films coming down under soon including the much anticipated ‘Pillion’ and ‘The History of Sound’ plus some of the many highlights from this year’s festival. To celebrate the launch of the 115th Issue of Senses of Cinema, we spoke with not one, but two doctors – Dr Patrick Kelly and Dr Stayci Taylor, who joined us to discuss their special event ‘My Formative Queers: Stories of the Music Videos that Made Us Queer’. Both will be on the panel for this free ticketed event so they gave us a taste of what to expect and explained what makes a classic queer music video. The post Kiss of the Spiderwoman, BFI London Film Festival 2025 and My Formative Queers appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we went on a global cinematic trip looking at films and filmmakers from Britain, Iran, and the U.S.A. First up, we looked at ‘Hedda’, the latest provocative drama from writer-director Nia DaCosta which is a modern reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic. This time around, the action has been transposed from 19th-century Oslo to 1950’s Britain, where former bohemian free-spirit Hedda has moved into a sprawling estate with her new husband, the pinched and humourless academic George. Hedda has a lot going on – as the daughter of a general navigating a house she does not want and a marriage she feels trapped in, and a female ex-lover who reappears in her life. Tessa Thompson is exceptional in the title role and delivers a performance that is a bold and haunting portrait of a woman on the edge. We were then joined by Palace Cinema’s National Program Manager Kim Patelas to discuss the return this November of the Russell Hobbs British Film Festival and some of the highlights in this year’s program. As the Festival’s curator and who worked for Palace for 40 years, Kim started the British Film Festival and even though he retired from Palace in 2021 he has continued to program the Festival and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of British film. We concluded the show with a look at the upcoming ‘Focus on Jafar Panahi’ retrospective that is coming to Melbourne this November. While he has not directed any explicit queer films, his work often addresses social restrictions that heavily affect marginalised individuals, including LGBTQ+ people. Despite arrests, filmmaking bans, and restrictions on travelling outside of Iran, Jafar Panahi has resolutely made films marked by profound humanism for over 30 years. ACMI has curated a program of twelve films, from his breakout feature ‘The White Balloon’ to the Out Takes favourite ‘Offside’ through to this year’s Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival, ‘It Was Just an Accident’. The post Hedda, British Film Festival and Focus on Jafar Panahi appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we reviewed two new films from gay directors that explore the queer experience in vastly different ways and environments, plus we celebrated the return of The Other Film Festival and MQFF who are collaborating on a special inclusive cinema event this November. First up, we reviewed ‘Twinless’, a truly original and entertaining film that is equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking. After meeting in a twin bereavement support group, Roman and Dennis develop an unlikely friendship as they both search for solace and an identity without their better halves. They soon become inseparable, but old wounds reopen that will have permanent consequences for their friendship. This stirring, whip-smart, wholly original dark-comedy comes from breakout multi hyphenate writer, actor and director James Sweeney and it’s fair to say it is one of our favourite queer films of 2025. Next, we discussed ‘After The Hunt’, the latest film from gay Italian director Luca Guadagnino starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny. that tells the story of a college professor who is forced to grapple with her own secretive past after one of her male colleagues is faced with a serious accusation against an up-and-coming young queer female student at Yale University. We were then joined by The Other Film Festival’s Artistic Director Fiona Tuomy to discuss their ground-breaking disability-led program for 2025 that places Deaf and Disabled people at the centre of the Australian screen industry. Founded in 2004, The Other Film Festival is Australia’s first international disability film festival and a pioneer in offering a global standard of universal access for audiences. Along with putting on their own festival, this year they are collaborating with MQFF on a special inclusive cinema event for the Australian Premiere of ‘If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile’. We ended the program with a look at this year’s Melbourne Queer Film Festival which is back across Naarm this November with a stellar selection of LGBTQIA+ cinema and events, including a swag of premieres and films that we have been very excited to see on the big screen and in its online program.   The post Twinless, After The Hunt, The Other Film Festival and MQFF 2025 appeared first on Out Takes.

For this show, we take the phrase ‘mixed-bag’ and make it a reality by celebrating the return of one of our favourite local film festivals, review two television shows that highlight two gay men’s experience of dealing with two very different battlefields – one being the US Marine’s boot camp and the other being the hellscape known as the American High School campus, and we revisit a queer highlight from the ‘Black Mirror’ anthology. With TILDE returning to Melbourne from October 31 – November 2, we welcome back their CEO Ro Bright to discuss this year’s program and find out why the festival’s theme “Bites Back” is a celebration of creative defiance, self-determination, and the power of storytelling to challenge dominant norms and reclaim space on their own terms. We also reviewed the new series ‘Boots’ a Netflix dramedy set in the 1990s that follows Cameron, a closeted gay teenager, who impulsively joins the U.S. Marine Corps with his best friend. Based on Greg Cope White’s memoir ‘The Pink Marine’, the series explores themes of identity, friendship, and resilience as the recruits navigate boot camp, a dangerous environment where being openly gay meant severe consequences. We then moved on from the Marine’s boot camp to another battleground that is well known to many of us – the teenage warzone known as high school. ‘English Teacher’ is a comedy series from Brian Jordan Alavarez who plays Evan Marquez, a gay man who finds himself at the intersection of professional, political, and personal aspects of working at a high school in Texas. We finished by revisiting ‘San Junipero’ from the critically acclaimed and much-loved British science fiction anthology television series Black Mirror. This episode premiered on Netflix in October 2016, and the story begins in 1987 in a beach resort town named San Junipero, where the introverted Yorkie meets the more outgoing Kelly. Many felt that this episode marked a cultural shift in relation to the portrayal of lesbianism on television, or proof of concept that works dealing with queer characters need not be tragic. The post TILDE 2025, Boots, English Teacher s2 and San Junipero appeared first on Out Takes.

It’s no secret that we love a film festival at Out Takes so for this program we let you know what’s the craic with the return of the Irish Film Festival. Now in its 11th year, the 2025 Festival will showcase sixteen films and documentaries from Ireland, including 14 Australian premieres, and will take place in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, and Perth, alongside a nationwide online program from October 9 to November 9. We had the opportunity to review three films, starting with ‘Never Stop the Action’, which is described as a kaleidoscopic journey through time and space. We begin the film in The Bronx, catching a 5am D-Train with our guides Teshi and Casey, two old friends recently reunited at an all-night dance party. On their long subway ride through the awakening city, the two share stories that take us out of the train on surreal swerves into vivid imaginary universes. We then looked at ‘Ten Years of Yes’, a wonderful short film that follows Sydney Queer Irish, a social group for Irish expats and their friends of all identities and nationalities in Sydney. For the last 15 years, they have held regular meetups and annual events, participated in the Mardi Gras festival, and created a home away from home for Ireland’s LGBTQ+ diaspora down under. This short documentary follows Sydney Queer Irish in their preparation for the 2025 Mardi Gras parade, where they unveiled a sensational wedding party upon Sydney’s Oxford Street, honouring ten years of marriage equality in Ireland. ‘Ten Years of Yes’ captures a moment of both reflection and celebration amongst a community in their adopted city, thousands of kilometres from where history was made. We spoke with Alan Fitzgerald, the film’s director and member of Sydney Queer Irish, about how he got involved in the group, the importance of capturing this moment on film and also how he became an ‘accidental’ filmmaker. Our final review was the feature documentary ‘Mrs Robinson’, which tells the impressive life story of change-maker Mary Robinson: Ireland’s first female President, a pioneering UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the successor of Nelson Mandela as Chair of The Elders. This intimate portrait takes viewers from Mary Robinson’s childhood in the rural west of Ireland to the world stage working with Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama. Unfettered access for the first time allows the viewer to hear Mary’s commentary on a changing Ireland, her legal wins decriminalising homosexuality, legalising divorce and contraception and her triumphant Presidential victory. We finished by speaking with Dr Enda Murray, an award-winning filmmaker who has lived and worked in Ireland, England, USA, and Australia. His academic and filmmaking practice focuses on community, social justice, and popular culture. He is also the founder and creative director of the Irish Film Festival, and we spoke with him to find out more about the history of the festival, the importance of sharing Irish stories on our screens and more. The post 2025 Irish Film Festival appeared first on Out Takes.

For this program, we looked at two films that explore the queer experience through very different perspectives; one being a documentary on the creative team behind many loved films from the past 50 years including the queer classic ‘Maurice’; and the second, a queer coming-of-age comedy about coming out of the closet that is screening at the VPC and Thornbury Picture House in Melbourne this October. First up we reviewed the delightful ‘Egghead & Twinkie’ which explores the aftermath of Vivian a.k.a. Twinkie, a teenage girl who has just come out to her conservative parents who then takes off on a road trip to meet her online crush with the help of her nerdy best friend Egghead. This film is heart-warming and very a sweet tale about embracing your identity and the ups and downs of best friendship. It’s written and directed by Sarah Kambe Holland who joined us to discuss the film, the importance of representation and more. Next up, we ran an encore of our interview from November 2024 with writer, producer and film director Stephen Soucy who was the driving force behind this insightful and educational documentary ‘Merchant Ivory’ that explores the legendary creative team behind Merchant Ivory Productions who became synonymous with prestige arthouse cinema. Check out this fantastic film at the ‘Meet the Filmmaker’ screening at Cinema Nova with Stephen Soucy for a post-screening Zoom Q&A.   The post ‘Egghead & Twinkie’ with special guest Sarah Kambe Holland plus ‘Merchant Ivory’ with Stephen Soucy appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we bring you a spring edition of Out Takes Recommends looking at a selection of films, TV shows and more that we’re enjoying as it is warming up down under and we struggle through hay-fever season a.k.a springtime in Melbourne! We started off with a review of Wayward which is streaming now on Netflix and is from Mae Martin, the queer comedian and actor whose previous show ‘Feel Good’ was a big hit in 2020 – 21, and also stars Toni Collette in a scene stealing role. Wayward is set in the picture-perfect town of Tall Pines where sinister secrets lurk behind every closed door. This genre-bending limited series about the eternal struggle between one generation and the next, what happens when friendship and loyalty are put to the ultimate test, and how buried truths always find a way of coming to the surface. We followed up with a selection of films, television shows and a podcast that we’ve been enjoying as it warms up down under including The Hunting Wives, Caught Stealing, Weapons, Good Hang podcast, Peacemaker Season 2 and more. Let us know what you think of our recommendations and share yours with us too!  The post Out Takes Recommends: Spring 2025 edition appeared first on Out Takes.

Disclaimer: the two films discussed on this episode deal with the topic of suicide and domestic violence and our commentary may contain content that could be distressing to some people so listener discretion is advised. For this Out Takes we’re saying Bentornato to the St Ali Italian Film Festival which is back this spring in Palace Cinemas across Australia from September 17, delivering a Bellissimo selection of box office hits and award-winning films. We started with a review of ‘Il ragazzo dai pantaloni rosa’, also known as ‘The Boy with Pink Trousers’, which has become a cultural phenomenon and box office sensation in Italy. This incredibly moving, emotional and heartbreaking drama explores the real story behind Italy’s first publicised case of online bullying through the short life of Andrea Spezzacatene. A gifted student and a talented singer, Andrea longs to make friends and fit in at his new school but he soon falls prey to Christian, a charming student with a darker side. Then events take a turn for the worse for Andrea as the school bullying intensifies. We were honoured to be joined by Margherita Ferri, the film’s director, for a long form chat about her involvement in the film, the importance of telling this story through a queer lens and more. We also took a look at ‘Diamanti’ (Diamonds), the 15ht film from celebrated gay Turkish-Italian film director and screenwriter Ferzan Özpetek which is also having its Australian premiere at this year’s festival. This Italian box office hit is a gorgeous tribute to the costume designers and seamstresses whose great craftsmanship bring to life the magic of cinema and is inspired by Özpetek’s personal experience frequenting film and theatre tailoring shops in the 1980s and the incredible women he encountered in these high-pressure environments.   The post St Ali Italian Film Festival 2025 with special guest Margherita Ferri appeared first on Out Takes.

For this episode we turned the spotlight on two local female directors in line with a special cinema event coming to the Victorian Pride Centre for one and the latest release for the other which is coming to a cinema near you soon. First up we took a look at ‘Revolt She Said’, a feature documentary that interrogates ideas about contemporary feminism and gender from an Australian and New Zealand lens. The film is from director Louise Lever who appeared on the program recently to discuss her short film ‘Joey’s Heart’ and is presenting a special screening of ‘Revolt She Said’ on Wednesday September 17 at the Victorian Pride Centre. Louise joined us again to discuss this upcoming event and how this film continues to provoke discussion around the themes of identity, gender politics, queer identity, power and women’s roles. We were then joined by Kate Woods, the celebrated Australian director of ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ who has taken time away to direct film and television overseas and is now back in Australia with her latest film ‘Kangaroo’ which is in cinemas nationally from September 17. This family friendly film is inspired by the extraordinary true story of kangaroo-carer Chris “Brolga” Barns and stars Ryan Corr as a fallen TV personality who forms an unlikely friendship with a 12-year-old Indigenous girl, played by newcomer Lily Whiteley, as they rescue and rehabilitate orphaned joeys in the red centre. We had the pleasure to speak with Kate to discuss her interest in bringing this story to life along with looking back at her incredible career. Finally, with the Melbourne International Film Festival concluding in late August, we took the opportunity to look back at some of our favourite films we saw across the 18 days. The post ‘Revolt She Said’ with Louise Lever and ‘Kangaroo’ with Kate Woods appeared first on Out Takes.

For this episode, we took a deep dive into ‘Went Up the Hill’, the latest film from Samuel Van Grinsven that stars Vicky Krieps and Dacre Montgomery which has been appearing at festivals around the world and will be in Aussie cinemas from September 11. This haunting, original tale of grief and possession set in remote New Zealand. The film follows Jack who has arrived at a distinctly unwelcoming funeral of Elizabeth, the artist mother he barely knew. An unnerving atmosphere hovers in Elizabeth’s cavernous and isolated house as Jack attempts to connect with Jill, his mother’s widow. We caught up with Samuel Van Grinsven, the film’s writer and director, as he was doing the rounds to promote ‘Went Up the Hill’ and discussed how this intense and very queer film got made, the casting, his connection to the landscape of New Zealand and more. We also dived in to the Out Takes archives and revisited his interview from 2019 when he was on the show to discuss his first feature film ‘Sequin in a Blue Room’. The post ‘Went Up the Hill’ with special guest Samuel Van Grinsven appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we welcomed the return of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne that promises ‘More Cinema, More Culture, More Celebration’ featuring an inclusive Pride event this August. We began by reviewing ‘We Are Faheem and Karun’, the latest film from celebrated gay Indian filmmaker Onir. This beautiful and unique tale is the first ever queer Kashmiri love story, set in Kashmir itself, and in the Kashmiri language, with local actors. Set in a remote Kashmiri village on the Indian and Pakistan border, we meet reserved security guard Karun who forms a forbidden bond with Faheem, a man torn between tradition and desire. Through stolen glances, online flirtation, and secret visits, their connection challenges beliefs and loyalties. We also had the pleasure to speak with Onir about the challenges of getting this film made, representation in South East Asian cinema and more in the lead up to a special screening of ‘We Are Faheem and Karun’ for the Pride at IFFM event on August 22 as a double bill with ‘Badnam Basti’ from 1971, which is considered the first queer film made in India. This double bill will be followed by BollyQ, a celebration of Queer Indian Cinema hosted by Queer South Asians of Melbourne, where the celebration continues with electrifying performances by local drag sensations – definitely one not to be missed! We concluded this Out Takes with a recap of three films that we’d seen at the Melbourne International Film Festival which runs until August 25 and has seen Melbournians turn out in droves for its great selection of films, events and more. The post Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2025 with special guest Onir for ‘We Are Faheem and Karun’ appeared first on Out Takes.