Out Takes

This week on Out Takes, we’re looking at the ways in which differently abled, LGBT lives are represented in queer cinema. And here’s a spoiler: they rarely are. The question is why.

To help us unpack this fraught question we’re joined by directors Ian Watson and Suzanne Guacci.

Watson is the director of UNSOUND, the tender new Australian feature that recently took out an award for best film at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.

Guacci is the director of T11 INCOMPLETE, a compassionate romance that screened at the Mardi Gras Film Festival.

Both films explore the intersection of queer and differently abled identities in fresh and nuanced ways that challenge the relative lack of representation that has heretofore marked our screens.

This week on Out Takes, as the COVID19 public health crisis continues to take a devastating toll on communities and industries around the world, we turned our attention to the impact that COVID19 has had on our local film and cinema industries. You can also see it’s had a huge affect on how we bring you Out Takes every week but thanks to some great technology and a little bit of magic we’re making it work!

Film productions are in hiatus, cinemas are closed and the industry is scrambling to find a way to survive what could be a very bleak few months. But what does this mean for local productions? For cinephiles? For all of us who depend on cinema to reflect our lives back to us and to entertain us?

To help us unpack these timely and important questions we were joined by Cinema Nova CEO Kristian Connelly and local Australian film maker Sophie Hardcastle, whose new film CLOUDY RIVER is now available for streaming on SBS on Demand.

Connelly joined us to talk about the impact of COVID19 on Cinema Nova and like cinemas around Australia, while Hardcastle talked about the effect of the pandemic on local production, as well as her bold new ode to freedom, flirtation and fluidity, which may just be your next binge worthy online treat.

Thanks once again to our community radio friends at Vision Australia Radio for their support in helping Out Takes produce our weekly program during these trying times plus don’t forget to catch up on all of our podcasts (200+ and counting!) via the JOY website or on Spoitfy.

This week on Out Takes, we turned our spotlight on full beam to the work of prolific Argentinian film maker Marco Berger as his new film, YOUNG HUNTER, hits film festival circuits around the globe.

Our guest was Berger himself, whose films include festival darlings such as PLAN B (2009), ABSENT (2011), TAEKWONDO (2016) and THE BLOND ONE (2019). These are films that revel in homoeroticism and subversion; films that use the gay male gaze to say something about homosocial friendship and the gay male experience.

We spoke with him about his latest film and some of it’s more controversial elements, alongside it’s use of technology and his ability once again to find the perfect cast to tell this compelling and complex tale.

This week on Out Takes, as people all over the world took to their homes, we turned the spotlight on some of our favourite binge worthy queer films that you can stream online: think thought provoking fare like Frank Simon’s THE QUEEN, fun popcorn flicks like MAMMA MIA, and overnight queer sensations like GOD’S OWN COUNTRY. These are films that you can watch and enjoy anywhere in Australia, even from the comfort of your own home!

While you stay safe indoors we also encourage you you to revisit some of our classic Out Takes podcasts, brush up on your cinema knowledge and then watch the films that have got us all talking.

Thanks to Vision Australia Radio for allowing 1/4 of our team to use one of their studios while the rest of us relied on modern technology to make this work because as you all know – the show must go ON! 

This week on Out Takes, we turned our attention to the 30th annual Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF). MQFF kicked off on March 12 with a program set to bring the latest in queer cinema to screens across the State.

But as of March 16, due to concerns about COVID-19 and the health of MQFF attendees, the Festival was offically suspended. That means no more screenings for now. So what does this mean for you and the festival? We spoke with MQFF Program Director Spiro Economopoulos to find out what the suspension of MQFF means for queer cinephiles around the State.

We also looked at some of the fabulous fare that hit MQFF screens over the past few days. Joining us on the program was Kurt David Handler, the director of SPIRAL, which screened this past Friday as part of the Festival. SPIRAL conflates horror and homophobia to render a gay spin on cult classics like GET OUT and HEREDITARY.

We also spoke with Out Takes co-host Conrad about his experience at the MQFF Opening Night Gala, which included a screening of the unmissable new doco GAY CHORUS DEEP SOUTH.

For this Out Takes program, we celebrated the theatrical release of Peter Strickland’s IN FABRIC by looking at some of the most iconic cinematic dresses: think Judy Garland’s pinafore in THE WIZARD OF OZ or Audrey Hepburn’s little black dress in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S.

Our guest was cult film maker Peter Strickland, who joined us to talk about his sensual and surreal new horror. Set in London, IN FABRIC tells the story of a lonely divorcee who purchases a new red gown that unleashes a malevolent, unstoppable curse. It releases nationally this week.

We also revisited our chat with costume designer Marion Boyce, who designed the iconic looks that featured in THE DRESSMAKER.

This week on Out Takes, we looked to celebrate the 30th Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF), which kicked off on March 12 and which was yet again poised to bring a range of fresh new queer films to screens across the State until all screenings were suspended from March 16 due to the current COVID-19 crisis.

Our guests were Spiro Economopoulos, the Program Director of MQFF and directors Rodrigo Bellott and Isobel Sandoval.

Bellott joined us to talk about his new film Tu Me Manques (I Miss You), which was selected as Bolivia’s official Academy Awards entry earlier this year.

Sandoval joined us to talk about Lingua Franca, her beguiling new drama, which tells the story of an undocumented Filipino transwoman who becomes romantically involved with the grandson of a woman for whom she is a paid caregiver.

We extend our best wishes to the MQFF team and look forward to celebrating their 30th year and many fantastic queer films on the big screen with them soon.

For this week on Out Takes, Mardi Gras season was upon us so we decided to celebrate Sydney and the ways that it figures in queer Australian cinema.

Our first guest was pioneer of Australian film and television Rodger Ward, who joined us to talk about his iconic 1970s classic, THE SET. Released in 1970 and dubbed Australia’s first gay film, THE SET is a classic representation of camp 1970s Sydney subculture.

Our next guest was Tim Spencer, writer, creator and producer of DING DONG I’M GAY, a new web series funded by Screen Australia that shines a whimsical light on the gay Sydney experience.

We also looked back at the Mardi Gras Film Festival (MGFF) in Sydney, which wraps up tonight after two weeks of fresh queer content. MGFF kicked off earlier this month with ELLIE AND ABBY (AND ELLIE’S DEAD AUNT) – a moving coming out story that pays homage to LGBT activism in Sydney.

In this Out Takes special, to mark the theatrical release of UNDERTOW, the new film from Australian film maker Miranda Nation, we looked at queer films about obsession: think classics like POSESSION and FATAL ATTRACTION.

Our guest was Nation herself, who joined us to talk about her thrilling new film. There’s a fine line between emotional desolation, obsession and paranoia in UNDERTOW, which tells the story of a grieving woman who channels her pain over the loss of her unborn child into a fixation with a pregnant teenager.

We also crossed to Sydney to speak with Out Takes co host Daniel, who was there for the Mardi Gras Film Festival. They chatted with him about the Festival and some of the fresh cinematic fare on offer.

For this Out Takes special, love was in the air! Valentine’s Day was just around the corner so to celebrate we looked at some of our favorite LGBT themed romance films.

Our first guest was Isabel Sandoval, the director of LINGUA FRANCE, which screened at the Mardi Gras Film Festival and will also screen at this years Melbourne Queer Film Festival. LINGUA FRANCA is a landmark trans themed romance set against modern, Trump era anxieties.

We were also joined by emerging film maker Shannon Anderson, whose new short film THE FALL reflects on the ideas of melancholy and love.