Out Takes

In this episode of Out Takes we speak with Kate Jinx, senior programmer at Melbourne International Film Festival about the retrospective of German avant-garde filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger, titled Radical Travels. We hear from Screen Australia COO Grainne Brunsdon about their new innovation the Private Investment Toolkit to encourage more investment in Australian film. We also encore our interview with Bina Battacharya, the writer and director of From All Sides, which is now streaming on SBS On Demand.

The post MIFF Ulrike Ottinger retrospective, Screen Australia Private Investment Toolkit, From All Sides writer/director Bina Battacharya appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we speak with Jill Bilcock, the acclaimed editor of some of the most iconic films of Australian cinema, including Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Muriel’s Wedding and Head On, which are all currently screening at ACMI.

We follow that up with our review of Heartstopper Forever, the final instalment of the much loved YA series, we talk Obsession and why it’s this year’s phenomenal box office hit, and we make a first attempt at highlighting some of the queer- themed films in this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival.

The post Heartstopper Forever, special guest the acclaimed editor Jill Bilcock, MIFF picks, Obsession appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we were very excited to welcome back MIFF a.k.a the Melbourne International Film Festival which is back in cinemas and online this August. Our special guest was Al Cossar, the Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival, who discussed with us many of the queer highlights and special events on offer for this year’s festival. We also heard from Dr Patrick Kelly who has curated two films, My Own Private Idaho’ and ‘Scorpio Rising’, that are coming to the Capitol Theatre on Tuesday July 21 for ‘The Best Films You’ve Never Seen: Queer Edition’.



The post MIFF 2026 with Al Cossar and the ‘Best Films You’ve Never Seen – Queer Edition’ with Dr Patrick Kelly appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we were excited to feature an up-and-coming queer filmmaker whose first feature film will be in Aussie cinemas soon plus we acknowledged NAIDOC week by spotlighting an award-winning short film that celebrates the queer First Nation’s experience on country.

We started off by reviewing ‘First Light’, a new Australian-Filipino co-production that is in cinemas from July 9. It is the debut feature film from acclaimed Melbourne filmmaker and photographer James J. Robinson. The film centres around Sister Yolanda who has spent her life as a servant to God and the people in her community working as a nurse at the local hospital and living at an old convent in the mountains, Yolanda’s grace and selflessness make her a quiet but valued figure in her town. When Yolanda is called to perform last rites on a young construction worker on his deathbed, suddenly things aren’t so simple. The unusual circumstances surrounding the boy’s death begin to weigh on her conscience. Swept up in the lives of the people around her, including a young novice nun Sister Arlene, the affluent Linda Dela Cruz, and the father of the construction worker, an unavoidable question in the back of Yolanda’s mind begins to resonate louder and louder: Has she spent her life dutiful to the wrong thing?

The films writer and director then joined us while he was in Tokyo. James J. Robinson is a 29-year-old Filipino/Australian artist based in Los Angeles. With a successful career in photography and filmmaking, he is published regularly by the likes of The New York Times and Vogue, shooting the world’s biggest names including Kylie Jenner and Rihanna, while directing campaigns for brands like Apple and Maison Valentino. Despite a successful career in this world, James is also a talented filmmaker whose work has covered music videos, short films and now ‘First Light’ which is his feature film. Our long form discussion covered his career and how he got into filmmaking along with a great chat about what constitutes a queer film.

We ended this program by highlighting NAIDOC Week 2026 which takes place from July 5 to 12. This year’s theme, “50 Years of Deadly,” celebrates five decades of the NAIDOC movement, honouring the Elders, activists, artists, and leaders who have proudly shaped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history. In February 2024, we featured the beautiful documentary ‘Marungka tjalatjunu (Dipped in Black)’ that deservedly garnered well deserved praise and accolades around the world including being the first ever film to win the Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film) and the Teddy Award for best queer short film at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival and will finally be available to stream from July 9 thanks to DocPlay. This short documentary tells the story of Aboriginal man Derik Lynch who leaves behind the oppression of white city life in Adelaide and embarks on a road trip back to Country for spiritual healing, as memories from his childhood return. Both Derik and his co-director / collaborator Matthew Thorne joined us in February 2024 when the film was screening as part of the AIDC to discuss the film, their professional and personal relationship and more.

The post ‘First Light’ with special guest James J. Robinson and NAIDOC Week 2026 appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we dedicated it to the return of MDFF aka Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, which is celebrating its 10th year this July in bringing quality films online and in cinema for Melbourne cinephiles that amplify marginalised voices and share stories from here and around the world.

One of the LGBTQIA+ documentary’s on offer this year is ‘Out Laws’ which follows three queer activist-litigants – Friedel from Namibia, Rosanna from Sri Lanka and Raven from Barbados – as they take their governments to court over the colonial-era laws that still criminalise same-sex intimacy across 60+ countries. The film premiered at BFI Flare in March to a standing ovation and five-star reviews in Screen Daily and will be screening with a selection of queer short films on Sunday July 12 from 5.15pm at Cinema Nova. Our special guest was James Lewis online from London who is the codirector of ‘Out Laws’ and the co-founder of The Good Side and Head of Productions, where he steers the agency’s film work. James has 20 years of experience as a producer in TV news, branded content and impact documentary filmmaking. ‘Out Laws’ is James’ first feature documentary and is a result of a decade working to support the decriminalisation movement and provided excellent insight and context into this must-see documentary.

We followed that up with reviews of two fantastic short films that are also on offer at this year’s MDFF; “Sheesh, A Taylor Love Story” that documents Filipino Taylor Swift impersonator Taylor Sheesh and explores how her drag performances have transformed Swiftie fandom into a movement of joy, empowerment, and belonging; and ‘The Last Closet’ which is directed by Reese Leigh and explores why the AFL remained the last major sports league without an openly queer male player, and examines inclusion within Australian sports.

The post Melbourne Documentary Film Festival (MDFF) with special guest James Lewis for ‘Out Laws’ appeared first on Out Takes.