How can a film with a queer protagonist, written by a queer playwright, and directed by a queer man… not be a queer film? That's the tricky question I'm tackling with The Choral, the WWI period drama that just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). In this episode: my Ralph Fiennes/Nicholas Hytner fangirling, why the film works as a crowd-pleaser but flattens queerness and other marginalized identities, and the bigger questions it raises about reclaiming — or sanitizing — queer history. 🎟 Plus, a sneak peek at Living Out Loud, my FREE three-day summit on queer and trans storytelling happening Oct 3–5. 👉 <a href= "https://seventh-row.com/living-out-loud/">Sign up for Living Out Loud</a>

How can a film with a queer protagonist, written by a queer playwright, and directed by a queer man… not be a queer film? That's the tricky question I'm tackling with The Choral, the WWI period drama that just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). In this episode: my Ralph Fiennes/Nicholas Hytner fangirling, why the film works as a crowd-pleaser but flattens queerness and other marginalized identities, and the bigger questions it raises about reclaiming — or sanitizing — queer history. 🎟 Plus, a sneak peek at Living Out Loud, my FREE three-day summit on queer and trans storytelling happening Oct 3–5. 👉 Sign up for Living Out Loud

How can a film with a queer protagonist, written by a queer playwright, and directed by a queer man… not be a queer film? That's the tricky question I'm tackling with The Choral, the WWI period drama that just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). In this episode: my Ralph Fiennes/Nicholas Hytner fangirling, why the film works as a crowd-pleaser but flattens queerness and other marginalized identities, and the bigger questions it raises about reclaiming — or sanitizing — queer history. 🎟 Plus, a sneak peek at Living Out Loud, my FREE three-day summit on queer and trans storytelling happening Oct 3–5. 👉 <a href="https://seventh-row.com/living-out-loud/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sign up for Living Out Loud</a>

183. The Choral (TIFF 2025) with Ralph Fiennes: When queer characters don't make a queer film

A weekly film podcast that helps you have a more rewarding experience watching movies by connecting you to the best under-the-radar films from around the world so that you don't have to watch all the movies to watch good movies that expand your cinematic horizons — both in content and form.

This is a podcast about those films, the joys and challenges of finding and watching those films, how filmmaking choices affect our experience of them,  and the people and places we discover through looking outside the mainstream and beyond the English language.

Our mission is to upend the canon to be more inclusive by spotlighting and diving deep into international and independent films by and about women, Indigenous People, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups. Find multiple episodes on the films of Kelly Reichardt, Céline Sciamma, Andrew Haigh, and Joachim Trier.

Become a member to access the full (200+ episode) podcast archive and get early access to new episodes: http://seventh-row.com/join

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Film Reviews

A weekly film podcast that helps you have a more rewarding experience watching movies by connecting you to the best under-the-radar films from around the world so that you don't have to watch all the movies to watch good movies that expand your cinematic horizons — both in content and form. This is a podcast about those films, the joys and challenges of finding and watching those films, how filmmaking choices affect our experience of them, and the people and places we discover through looking outside the mainstream and beyond the English language. Our mission is to upend the canon to be more inclusive by spotlighting and diving deep into international and independent films by and about women, Indigenous People, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups. Find multiple episodes on the films of Kelly Reichardt, Céline Sciamma, Andrew Haigh, and Joachim Trier. Become a member to access the full (200+ episode) podcast archive and get early access to new episodes: http://seventh-row.com/join

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183. The Choral (TIFF 2025) with Ralph Fiennes: When queer characters don't make a queer film

183. The Choral (TIFF 2025) with Ralph Fiennes: When queer characters don't make a queer film

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