This week on Out Takes, we turned our attention to the question of female representation in Western cinema. We’ve noticed a spate of recent films that have put the lives of women front and center: think indie flicks like THE WIFE and GLORIA BELL or box office hits like CAPTAIN MARVEL.

But despite our observations, the statistics paint a disappointing picture. Women are still dramatically underrepresented on the big screen. But why?

To help us explore this vexed question, we welcomed film maker and academic Lisa French back to the Out Takes studio. Lisa French is the author of ‘Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute’ and a member of the Gender Matters task force with Screen Australia. We spoke with Lisa about the lack of gender parity in the Australian Film Industry and the issues affecting the rich representation of women in Western cinema.

We also talked to film maker and WIFT board member Andrea Buck. Andrea has worked as a film producer, writer and development executive in Australia, Hollywood and South Africa.

For this week on Out Takes, we explored how loneliness and companionship take shape in queer cinema: think new queer cinema classics like MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, literary masterpieces like A SINGLE MAN, and John Butler’s PAPI CHULO.

PAPI CHULO centres around Sean (Matt Bomer), a newly-single TV weatherman who is put on leave following an on-air meltdown, so he directs his energy into home improvement and hires a middle-aged Latino day laborer named Ernesto (Alejandro Patiño) to help. Despite a language barrier and having nothing in common, the two men develop an unexpected but profound friendship.

Our guest was PAPI CHULO director John Butler, who joined us last year when his charming take on friendship, HANDSOME DEVIL, first hit cinemas. We spoke with Butler about how his films mediate the queer experience of lonliness and friendship, and where PAPI CHULO sits in the queer canon.

This week on Out Takes, we celebrated the 66th Sydney Film Festival, which kicked off on June 6. For 12 thrilling days, the Sydney Film Festival will play home to over 250 films from across the globe, as well as a diverse collection of queer and LGBT leaning films.

We looked at some of the great queer flicks that you can catch at this year’s Festival with special guests Samuel Van Grinsven, the director of Sequin in a Blue Room, and Em Baker, the director of I Am No Bird.

Sequin in a Blue Room tells the story of high schooler Sequin and his search for meaning in the cold world of anonymous online dating apps. I am No Bird documents the weddings of four different couples from four corners of the globe to unpack what marriage really means to women in the modern age.

This week on Out Takes, we celebrated the theatrical release of ROCKETMAN, Dexter Fletcher’s trippy new homage to Elton John, by taking stock of queer musical biopics: think panegyric musicals like BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, theatrical fantasies like HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, and stage adaptations like DREAMGIRLS.

ROCKETMAN is an epic musical fantasy about Elton John’s breakthrough years. The film follows the fantastical journey oftransformation from shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John.

ROCKETMAN premiered to rave reviews at Cannes earlier this month, but will it become a box office behemoth like BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY? Or a canonical fixture like HEDWIG? We put the full spotlight on Fletcher’s flamboyant new musicalROCKETMAN to if it has what it takes to become the next watershed queer musical biopic!

We also had a fantastic Rocketman prize pack to giveaway on air courtesy of our friends at Paramount Pictures Australia. Rocketman is in cinmeas from May 30

For this special Out Takes, we celebrated JOY’s Radiothon, the annual drive to promote JOY and it’s fabulous family of members and volunteers. This year’s Radiothon theme was LOVE, JOY so we took this as an opportunity to let the world know how much we love CINEMA, and how much we love QUEER CINEMA, and how much we love QUEER LOVE CINEMA.

Our first guest was Bali Padda, Diversity Advisor and Industry Development Executive at Screen Australia. We spoke with Padda about how important our local film industry is and why diversity on screen matters.

We also spoke with Marcelo Martinessi, the director of The Heiresses, which is an endearing look at love, relationships, class, age and the coming of (middle) age. It was the perfect companion piece to the love films that discussed as we looked at our favorite queer love films ♥

This week on Out Takes we turned our attention to modern coming out and coming of age cinema: think queer indie flicks like CALL ME BY YOUR NAME and 1985 and commercial hits like LOVE SIMON.

Our guest was , the director of GIANT LITTLE ONES, which sold out when it screened at this year’s Mardi Gras Film Festival and screens later this month at the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival. GIANT LITTLE ONES tells the story of two best friends who discover their lives, families, and girlfriends dramatically upended after an unexpected sexual encounter on the night of a 17th birthday party. We spoke with Behrman about his joyous new film, and how new queer coming of age films are reflecting a modern sexual sensibility.

This week on Out Takes, we celebrated the 30th GLAAD Media Awards, which recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBTIQ communities and the issues affecting their lives. In particular, we looked at the suite of films nominated for their nuanced portrayals of LGBTIQ life.

Our guest was Megan Townsend, the Director of Entertainment Research and Analysis at GLAAD/ We spoke with Townsend about the importance of the Awards and some of the other fantastic work that GLAAD does.

We also revisited our conversations with the directors of 1985, Disobedience, The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Boy Erased, which all recieved nominations at this year’s Awards: Yen Tan, Sebastian Lelio, Desiree Akhavan and Joel Edgerton.

Pictured: Beyonce & Jay Z, joint recepients of the Vanguard Award at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards.

For this Out Takes program, we celebrated the 12th annual Human Rights Arts and Film Festival (HRAFF), which kicked off in Melbourne on May 9. HRAFF is a not-for-profit Festival that explores diverse and inspiring human stories through film and the arts, and uses film as a vehicle to engage audiences in social justice and human rights cause s.

Our guests are HRAFF Program Manager Alice McShane and ‘Being Impossible’ director Patricia Ortega. ‘Being Impossible’ is a somber exploration of gender and identity, and a rare look at intersex life in Colombia. It screens as part of HRAFF this May.

For this Out Takes Easter special, we continued our chocolate binge by looking at films that are (perhaps) better than chocolate: think camp guilty pleasures like Another Gay Movie and Eating Out, kitsch nineties odes to school yard bitchery like Never Been Kissed and Clueless, and weepies like Beaches and Steel Magnolias!

We also looked at some of our favorite, sickly sweet and chocolate packed films that are perfect for this time of year. In fact, we even pitted Mel Stuart’s 1971 take on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory against Tim Burton’s 2005 hit to definitely determine which take on Roald Dhal’s classic is the best.

To celebrate the theatrical release of Yen Tan’s 1985, we’re turning our attention to modern AIDS cinema and looking at the ways in which it recalls and recollects the early AIDS crisis.

Our guest was Yen Tan, whose moving new film 1985 has been called “richly hypnotic” and “deeply emotional”.

Set in Texas in 1985, the film charts the journey of Adrian Lester, a closeted gay man, who returns home to tell his family that he is dying of AIDS. Shot on black and white super 16mm film, 1985 takes a unique look at a pivotal moment in American history through the prism of empathy, love and family.

1985 is also just one of a spate of recent films that have sought to re-envisage and recreate the tragedy of the early AIDS crisis.