Out Takes

At Out Takes, it’s no secret we love highlighting local queer cinema and the talent behind it, so for this program we were delighted to spotlight one of our very own team members who’s new film is having its Australian premiere at this year’s Greek Film Festival. Demetra Giannakopoulos is not only our co-host but also a talented filmmaker and with ‘Love Rewind’, she brings her debut feature film to the big screen this October. This heartfelt story was made in Melbourne and is set against the backdrop of the same-sex marriage postal vote with the film focusing on the relationship between Penny and Althea. Penny wants to revive the love in her long-term relationship with Althea, but when Althea suffers a stroke and her hidden affair is revealed, Penny is forced to discover what true love means to her.  We were delighted to speak with Demetra and the two leads in the film, Ruth Katerelos, who plays Penny, and Maria Papas, who plays Althea, to discuss the film, their experiences and contributions in getting it made, and the importance of seeing our stories and our community being represented on screen.

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With so much content coming our way on our small and big screens, we took this opportunity to put together a mixed bag of reviews and recommendations for some new releases and welcomes the return of a film festival that is all about accessibility and celebrating people with a disability. We started off with ‘Will & Harper’, a new Netflix documentary that has received a lot of attention due to the involvement of Will Ferrell and the subject matter, specifically looking at the friendship between him and Harper Steele and what happens after her transition which is explored on camera as they go on a road trip across the U.S. Then we took a trip back to the future with ‘My Old Ass’, a queer coming-of-age story that is in cinemas now about free-spirited Elliott (played by Maisy Stella) who after an 18th birthday experience with her besties on a mushroom trip, brings her face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old self (played by Aubrey Plaza). But when Elliott’s “old ass” starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do, Elliott realises she has to rethink everything about family, love, and what’s becoming a transformative summer. Next up, we celebrated the return of The Other Film Festival which is back in 2024 with a fantastic selection of shorts and features that celebrates 20 years of disability-led storytelling. Their free program of international and Australian films is screening via ACMI Cinema 3 from October 3 – 16. All films are made by Deaf and Disabled people either as key creatives, collaborators, and/or performers and all films are free to watch, audio described and captioned. From the festival program, we highlighted ‘Leilani’s Fortune’, a documentary feature film that follows Witch Prophet, a queer, immigrant Ethiopian-Eritrean musician, as she navigates newfound momentum in Canada and stands true to her unique voice while on the verge of a major international breakthrough. Finally, with the release of ‘The Critic’ in cinemas from October 3, we took the opportunity to celebrate the incredible professional career and advocacy work of Sir Ian McKellen and look at his latest film that sees him tackle the role of Jimmy Erskine, an extravagantly malicious theatre critic who strikes fear into the thespians of 1930s London.

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For this Out Takes we said Ciao to the St Ali Italian Film Festival which is returning to cinemas this September and October across Australia. We took a look at some of the films on offer, including the gorgeous coming-of-age story ‘The Beautiful Summer’ that follows Ginia, a young working-class woman in Turin navigating the throes of burgeoning adulthood amidst a tumultuous backdrop of pre-WWII Italy, and ‘Gloria!’, which tells the music-fuelled story of an overlooked maid at a Venetian refuge whose hidden talent helps inspire an uprising. We featured an exclusive interview with Italian actress, singer-songwriter and filmmaker Margherita Vicario who directed ‘Gloria!’ who was a special guest of the festival and in Australia to premiere the film. We also caught up with the festival’s program director Elysia Zeccola to find out about the diverse range of films on offer in this year’s program plus her personal recommendations for you to check out too.

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When we got the press release about ‘Buried’ it ticked so many boxes that we knew we needed to feature it on the show. This five-part Melbourne-based series brings us the school run drop-off from hell; after single mum Abi accidentally kills a cyclist on the morning school run, her to-do list gets a lot more complicated as she tries to juggle the battle of everyday parenting with the disposal of a corpse. Over the course of one not-so-average school day, Abi must navigate a suspicious rival parent, avoid the police, and hide the evidence – all before 3:30pm pick-up. Other than the murder and disposal of a body, this series rang very true for our co-host with kids so we were delighted to be joined by the series co-writer, co-creator and director Charlotte George to give us the origin story behind this innovative series, the incredible cast involved and more.

We were also inspired by our recent review and interview with the team behind ‘Videoland’ to revisit some of the queer films from the 90’s, a few classics and some personal favourites, that we rented over and over again back in the day and that we recommend you revisit or check out for the first time.

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For this Out Takes, we went back to the future to focus on a new local lesbian coming of age rom-com series set in a video store in the 90’s that has just hit Netflix and we took a look at the legacy of an Australian queer film classic about drag queens, fabulous frocks and a bus in the desert.

First up was ‘Videoland’, a very funny, quirky and queer Aussie production that centres on teenage video store clerk Hayley who is furtively working her way through a handwritten list of queer films in the hope of helping her navigate her way in to lesbian life while managing her relationships with her best friend, her boss and a potential love interest in mysterious customer Jennifer. We were delighted to be joined by the series writer and director Jessica Smith and lead actor Emmanuelle Mattana to talk about how this wonderful series came to be, the incredible attention to detail in the production design and much more.

We were also joined by Stephen Gaunson, Director of Higher Degrees Research in the College of Design & Social Context at RMIT who is hosting a special introductory panel discussion at the Capitol Theatre on Wednesday September 11 for a special 30th anniversary screening of ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’. We took this opportunity to discuss the enduring legacy of Priscilla in the Australian cinematic landscape, explore the film’s significant impact on society and how it became internationally renowned as a symbol of freedom and expression for the LGBTQIA+ community.

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In this episode of Out Takes we bring you two extended highlights of interviews with a filmmaker and a distributor in the LGBTIQ filmmaking space. First up is Onir, a fearless gay Indian filmmaker. Onir has been making queer films in India for over 20 years, including My Brother…Nikhil which was one of the first mainstream Hindi films to deal with AIDS and same-sex relationships, and the films I Am, and Pine Cone. Our interview with Onir arose from a short film he co-directed titled Nandini which was screened in the recent Indian Film Festival in Melbourne [see Out Takes episode 13 August 2024]. Our extended discussion covered many more topics including challenging the classification of his films and responding to his film script being banned by the military. Our second interview was with Naomi Bennett, CEO of Lesflicks, an online streaming platform dedicated to sapphic stories on film. We interviewed Naomi in celebration of Pride Month [see Out Takes episode 26 June 2024]. Naomi generously shares her insights about how the LGBTIQ community can and should support its queer filmmakers, and how filmmakers can learn more about connecting their films to their audience.

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For this Out Takes we review AMERICAN PARENT which is screening as part of this year’s QueerScreen Film Festival in its online offerings. AMERICAN PARENT is a tender, heart-warming film about a lesbian couple raising a toddler amid financial and professional uncertainty. We are delighted to interview one of its lead actors KRISTEN BUSH. We review I SAW THE TV GLOW which stars JUSTICE SMITH and BRIDGETT LUNDY-PAINE as two troubled high school students whose connection to their favourite TV show drives them to question their reality and identities. We also speak with the film’s writer and director, JANE SCHOENBRUN, about what makes I SAW THE TV GLOW a queer film.

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In this Out Takes we are all about the Melbourne International Film Festival with two in depth interviews. First up we chat with TRACIE LAYMON the writer and director of the film BOB TREVINO LIKES IT which is a gorgeously touching film that tells the story of lonely 20-something Lily Trevino, who unexpectedly forms a close bond with a grieving, childless man named Bob Trevino, who shares the same name as her self-centred father, and how this unexpected friendship, filled with encouragement and support, has the potential to change her life for the better. We also speak with SIMON HUNT, creative collaborator of STEPHEN CUMMINS to talk about the retrospective or their queer experimental films.

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For this Out Takes we review two short films. NANDINI one of the short films within the 2024 INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF MELBOURNE opening night film MY MELBOURNE, an anthology of four unique diverse stories based on true incidents themed around the four pillars of diversity – sexuality, gender, disability, and race. NANDINI is a story about Indraneel, a queer Indian man and his estranged father who reunite in Melbourne to complete a ceremonial ritual, exploring their fraught relationship and the power of forgiveness amid grief.

We speak with Indian filmmaker ONIR, the co-director of NANDINI, as well as director of MY BROTHER…NIKHIL, and PINE CONE about his films and navigating making queer films in India.

We also chat with Melbourne filmmaker AARUSHI CHOWDHURY about her short film CLOWN, which is screening in the 2024 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL in the Accelerator shorts 1 program. CLOWN is about 8-year-old Sami who can’t wait to play “serial killers” with her older sister Jiya, but her sister-time is threatened when Jiya’s cool new bestie arrives. We speak with Aarushi about making Clown and themes of belonging.

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We are known for celebrating representation and diversity on Out Takes so we embraced the chaos and threw everything in to this one! We turned a very queer eye to the 2024 Olympics and celebrated the record number of LGBTIQA+ athletes competing this year along with the glitz, glamour and Gaga/Celine of the opening ceremony. Then it was our review of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s latest screen collab’ that has the world turning out in droves to enjoy the camp spectacle of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’.

We then changed pace for an in-depth interview with David Charles Rodrigues, the award-winning Greek-American-Brazilian filmmaker and equal rights activist. He was in Melbourne recently for the Australian premiere of his latest film ‘The Official Genesis P-Orridge Documentary ~ S/HE IS STILL HER/E’ so we caught up with him to discuss this project and his previous film ‘Gay Chorus Deep South’, the impact his films have on our community along with a broader discussion about his process and the importance of sharing these stories globally.

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