Out Takes

For this Out Takes Extra, we had the pleasure of speaking with Sophie Hyde and Aud Mason-Hyde at the JOY studios in the lead up to the Australian release of ‘Jimpa’ which is in cinemas now. Sophie Hyde is an acclaimed Adelaide-based film director, writer, and producer. Following on from her debut feature ’52 Tuesdays’, she has gone on to work on projects here and around the world including ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ with Emma Thompson and ‘Animals’ with Alia Shawkat. Her latest film ‘Jimpa’ is based on her own family story after her father, Jim Hyde, came out to his wife as gay when they were married with young children, and explores a fictionalised version of their unique path forward in keeping their family connected while also living their own lives. The film stars Olivia Colman, John Lithgow, and introduces us to the extraordinary acting abilities of Sophie’s very talented child, Aud Mason-Hyde.With Sophie and Aud at the JOY studio’s to discuss ‘Jimpa’, we took the opportunity to cover a wide range of topics from film-making to gender identity through to Jim Hyde’s connection to JOY and the experience of being in a bath with Olivia Colman on set! ‘Jimpa’ is in Australian cinemas now so visit your local cinema listings for details and also visit the Queerest Part of Us project to celebrate, recognise and remember our stories and connection to community. Also, keep up to date with everything Out Takes on Instagram, BlueSky and Facebook and thanks for listening to this Out Takes Extra. The post Out Takes Extra: Sophie Hyde and Aud Mason-Hyde for ‘Jimpa’ appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we had a stack of reviews to cover some of the films on offer in cinemas and online this February. We started off by saying bon retour to the 37th Alliance Française French Film Festival which kicks off again across Australia from March 3rd. One of the queer highlights in this year’s program is ‘The Little Sister’ which tells the story of Fatima (played by Nadia Melliti), who is the youngest daughter of a Franco-Algerian family living in the suburbs of Paris. Surrounded by her sisters, she grows up in a warm, loving household shaped by strong traditions and Muslim faith. A gifted student, she graduates high school and enrols in a philosophy program in Paris, where she is suddenly exposed to a world far removed from everything she knows. In the capital, new encounters and ideas unsettle her certainties, specifically her exploration of her sexuality and connection with the queer community. This beautiful film was selected for the Official Competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where Nadia Melliti won the Best Actress award and the film received the Queer Palm and is a must-see. We then took a look at ‘Cashing Out’, a new documentary that is streaming now online for free from The New Yorker that tells a little heard story about an insurance scheme that had a huge impact in the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. ‘Cashing Out’ was shortlisted for this year’s Best Documentary Short Film and was executive produced by Matt Bomer and RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Angeria Paris Van Michaels and is another incredible story of the resilience of our community in the face of an epidemic. We then moved on to ‘Wuthering Heights’, the latest film from celebrated writer and director Emerald Fennell who brought together Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi and a Charli XCX soundtrack for her ‘horny’ interpretation of the classic novel by Emily Bronte. Everyone has a lot to say about this new version, so we jumped on the bandwagon to give you the Out Takes take on this one. We ended the program by spotlighting ‘She’s The He’, the closing night film at this year’s Mardi Gras Film festival, plus we paid tribute to two wonderful talents and LGBTQ allies, Catherine O’Hara and James Van Der Beek, who both sadly passed away recently. The post The Little Sister, Cashing Out and Wuthering Heights appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we celebrated the recent success of Leela Varghese at the 2026 AACTA Awards for  ‘Lesbian Space Princess’ and ‘I’m The Most Racist Person I Know’ (which were two of our favourite queer films of 2025) by revisiting our interview with her from last year along with our review of LSP which is available to watch locally on Netflix now. We also reviewed ‘Christy’, the latest film from Aussie director David Michôd that stars Sydney Sweeney in the lead role that chronicles the rise of former professional boxer Christy Martin and her incredibly tumultuous life in and outside of the ring, including accepting her sexuality, along with her abusive and coercive relationship with her coach that led to an attempted murder on her life. We also had an encore presentation of an excerpt from our interview from March 2025 with actor Arka Das and the founder of the Indian Film Festival and film producer Mitu Bhowmick Lange to discuss ‘My Melbourne’ which features four unique stories that celebrate diverse voices and talents from four Indian filmmakers who worked with emerging creatives from underrepresented backgrounds to create a multicultural Australian film about identity and belonging based on authentic migrant experiences and is available to watch now on SBS on Demand. The post Christy, Lesbian Space Princess, I’m the Most Racist Person I Know and My Melbourne appeared first on Out Takes.

Now that we’re well in to this new year, we’re starting to see the return of some of our favourite film festivals and we were excited to take a closer look at the fifth edition of the Europa! Europa Film Festival which is back in cinemas across Australia and New Zealand  from February 19 to March 19. To take a deep dive in to the program, we welcomed back the festival’s Artistic Director Spiro Economopoulos to tell us more about the 43 films on offer and some of his personal recommendations too. We also reviewed one of the highlights of this year’s program called ‘Maspalomas’, a beautiful Spanish film that tells the story of Vicente who came out as gay at the age of 50, leaving his wife and daughter back home in San Sebastián, to enjoy the sun-drenched gay resort town of Maspalomas in the Canary Islands After recently splitting up with his partner Esteban in his mid-seventies, Vicente is making the most of his newly single life until one night he suffers a stroke and ending up in a coma. Upon waking up, Vicente finds that he’s been moved to a care home by his estranged daughter and to make matters worse, he finds himself back “in the closet”, since he hasn’t told anyone at the home about his sexual identity. We ended the show with a recap on the recent award nomination announcements for the GLAAD Media Awards, the 98th Academy Awards and the BAFTA’s including some of the LGBTQIA+ nominees we’re hoping to see pick up a win this award season. The post 2026 Europa! Europa Film Festival  appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we were excited to introduce you to ‘From All Sides’, a new Australian feature film that is having a special Q&A screening at the Sun Theatre in Yarraville on Friday January 30 that is described as a subversive, sexually frank drama about a seemingly average suburban middle-class, multiracial family that features a strikingly original fusion of steamy bisexual orgies, extramarital hookups, and dazzling classical Indian dance sequences. We wanted to know more about this exciting local queer film so we went straight to the source and spoke to its writer and director Bina Bhattacharya. This wonderful interview covered many important topics including her journey as a filmmaker, her passion for Western Sydney and importance of using it as a backdrop to tell modern Australian stories, the impact of racism on her storytelling and more. We concluded the show by looking at ‘Blue Moon’, the latest from award-winning director Richard Linklater that stars Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott and is set in New York City in 1943. It follows the gay and closeted musical genius Lorenz Hart as he reflects on himself on the opening night of Oklahoma!, a new musical by his former colleague Richard Rodgers. We thoroughly enjoyed watching Ethan Hawke in this transformative role which has seen him nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award. The post ‘From All Sides’ featuring special guest Bina Bhattacharya, plus ‘Blue Moon’ review appeared first on Out Takes.

It’s no secret we love a film festival and with the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival returning  this February, we took the opportunity for this show to spotlight the fantastic Mardi Gras Film Festival and many of the top tier queer films on offer in this year’s program. Queer Screen’s 33rd Mardi Gras Film Festival runs from 12-26 February 2026, presenting outstanding LGBTQIA+ cinema from around the world. Alongside film premieres, audiences can enjoy panel discussions and networking events celebrating global queer storytelling and connection. We wanted to know more about this incredible line up, so we went straight to the source and heard from Andrew Wilkie, the Queer Screen Programming and Industry Manager, about many of the highlights in this year’s program and more. We also revisited our interview from August last year with the director of one of the highlights in this year’s MGFF program. ‘We Are Faheem and Karun’ is the latest film from Onir, the gay Indian writer, film and television director, editor, screenwriter and producer who is best known for his film My Brother…Nikhil which at the time was one of the first mainstream Hindi films to deal with AIDS and same-sex relationships. He also won the National Award for his film I Am and with his latest film ‘We Are Faheem and Karun’, he creates the first ever queer Kashmiri love story, set in Kashmir itself, and in the Kashmiri language, with local actors. He’ll be a guest at this year’s Mardi Gras Film Festival for a special Q&A screening and as part of the Industry Panel & Networking event so book your tickets now as this session and screening not to be missed. The post Mardi Gras Film Festival 2026 appeared first on Out Takes.

With Melbourne’s premiere queer arts and culture festival a.k.a. Midsumma 2026, kicking off on January 18, we dedicated this program to celebrating two fantastic LGBTQIA+ film related events that are coming your way that will leave you entertained and engaged. First up, we always know that the Melbourne Queer Film Festival brings a great selection of films for Midsumma and 2026 is no exception. One of our favourite returning guests, MQFF’s Program Director Ro Bright, joined us to take us through the great line up of films on offer for their 2026 MQFF Midsumma series. Then we turned our attention to a workshop that will help to nurture and inspire the next generation of local queer filmmakers forward with their own projects. Lead by Melbourne based Kiwi born independent filmmaker Lousie Lever, ‘There’s a story in you: a Queer filmmaking workshop’ is on January 24 – 25 with a goal to empower participants to connect with likeminded creatives and learn more about the process of filmmaking. Show your support for these fantastic events and have a very safe, happy, and queer Midsumma! The post Midsumma 2026 – MQFF with Ro Bright, and There’s a story in you: a Queer filmmaking workshop with Louise Lever appeared first on 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.