Out Takes

For this Out Takes, we celebrated the release of two highly anticipated queer films for February that celebrate the diversity of our community, the importance of representation and the ability for LGBTQIA+ folks to tell our own stories in an authentic way while still been given the opportunity to have them out in the mainstream.

First up was ‘Jimpa’, the latest film from Adelaide based writer, producer and director Sophie Hyde. Inspired by Hyde’s own life with a direct link to her gay activist father Jim, this film is a multi-generational queer family story starring award-winning favourites Olivia Colman and John Lithgow plus it introduces us to the extraordinary talents of Aud Mason-Hyde. Along with our review of ‘Jimpa’, we were delighted to be joined in the JOY studios by Sophie and Hyde where we covered a wide range of topics and themes including how this very personal story developed into a feature film, how audiences have responded to the performances and characters, plus we discuss the connection that their father and grandfather Jim Hyde had to JOY and his impact in the queer community.

We then reviewed ‘Pillion’, the debut feature film from British director Harry Lighton that tells the story of Colin (Harry Melling) who lives a small, carefully ordered life with his parents until Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), the charismatic leader of a gay biker gang, claims him as his submissive. Drawn into Ray’s world of leather, ritual, and unspoken codes, Colin awakens to intoxicating new dimensions of desire and belonging and the film traces the ecstatic and uncomfortable contours of a dom-sub relationship that evolves into something far deeper – a meditation on identity, control, and the unsettling shapes devotion takes when boundaries dissolve.

The post ‘Jimpa’ with special guests Sophie Hyde and Aud Mason Hyde plus ‘Pillion’ appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes Extra, we had the pleasure of speaking with Sophie Hyde and Aud Mason-Hyde at the JOY studios in the lead up to the Australian release of ‘Jimpa’ which is in cinemas now. Sophie Hyde is an acclaimed Adelaide-based film director, writer, and producer. Following on from her debut feature ’52 Tuesdays’, she has gone on to work on projects here and around the world including ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ with Emma Thompson and ‘Animals’ with Alia Shawkat. Her latest film ‘Jimpa’ is based on her own family story after her father, Jim Hyde, came out to his wife as gay when they were married with young children, and explores a fictionalised version of their unique path forward in keeping their family connected while also living their own lives. The film stars Olivia Colman, John Lithgow, and introduces us to the extraordinary acting abilities of Sophie’s very talented child, Aud Mason-Hyde.With Sophie and Aud at the JOY studio’s to discuss ‘Jimpa’, we took the opportunity to cover a wide range of topics from film-making to gender identity through to Jim Hyde’s connection to JOY and the experience of being in a bath with Olivia Colman on set! ‘Jimpa’ is in Australian cinemas now so visit your local cinema listings for details and also visit the Queerest Part of Us project to celebrate, recognise and remember our stories and connection to community. Also, keep up to date with everything Out Takes on Instagram, BlueSky and Facebook and thanks for listening to this Out Takes Extra.

The post Out Takes Extra: Sophie Hyde and Aud Mason-Hyde for ‘Jimpa’ appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we had a stack of reviews to cover some of the films on offer in cinemas and online this February. We started off by saying bon retour to the 37th Alliance Française French Film Festival which kicks off again across Australia from March 3rd. One of the queer highlights in this year’s program is ‘The Little Sister’ which tells the story of Fatima (played by Nadia Melliti), who is the youngest daughter of a Franco-Algerian family living in the suburbs of Paris. Surrounded by her sisters, she grows up in a warm, loving household shaped by strong traditions and Muslim faith. A gifted student, she graduates high school and enrols in a philosophy program in Paris, where she is suddenly exposed to a world far removed from everything she knows. In the capital, new encounters and ideas unsettle her certainties, specifically her exploration of her sexuality and connection with the queer community. This beautiful film was selected for the Official Competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where Nadia Melliti won the Best Actress award and the film received the Queer Palm and is a must-see. We then took a look at ‘Cashing Out’, a new documentary that is streaming now online for free from The New Yorker that tells a little heard story about an insurance scheme that had a huge impact in the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. ‘Cashing Out’ was shortlisted for this year’s Best Documentary Short Film and was executive produced by Matt Bomer and RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Angeria Paris Van Michaels and is another incredible story of the resilience of our community in the face of an epidemic. We then moved on to ‘Wuthering Heights’, the latest film from celebrated writer and director Emerald Fennell who brought together Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi and a Charli XCX soundtrack for her ‘horny’ interpretation of the classic novel by Emily Bronte. Everyone has a lot to say about this new version, so we jumped on the bandwagon to give you the Out Takes take on this one. We ended the program by spotlighting ‘She’s The He’, the closing night film at this year’s Mardi Gras Film festival, plus we paid tribute to two wonderful talents and LGBTQ allies, Catherine O’Hara and James Van Der Beek, who both sadly passed away recently.

The post The Little Sister, Cashing Out and Wuthering Heights appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we celebrated the recent success of Leela Varghese at the 2026 AACTA Awards for  ‘Lesbian Space Princess’ and ‘I’m The Most Racist Person I Know’ (which were two of our favourite queer films of 2025) by revisiting our interview with her from last year along with our review of LSP which is available to watch locally on Netflix now. We also reviewed ‘Christy’, the latest film from Aussie director David Michôd that stars Sydney Sweeney in the lead role that chronicles the rise of former professional boxer Christy Martin and her incredibly tumultuous life in and outside of the ring, including accepting her sexuality, along with her abusive and coercive relationship with her coach that led to an attempted murder on her life. We also had an encore presentation of an excerpt from our interview from March 2025 with actor Arka Das and the founder of the Indian Film Festival and film producer Mitu Bhowmick Lange to discuss ‘My Melbourne’ which features four unique stories that celebrate diverse voices and talents from four Indian filmmakers who worked with emerging creatives from underrepresented backgrounds to create a multicultural Australian film about identity and belonging based on authentic migrant experiences and is available to watch now on SBS on Demand.

The post Christy, Lesbian Space Princess, I’m the Most Racist Person I Know and My Melbourne appeared first on Out Takes.

Now that we’re well in to this new year, we’re starting to see the return of some of our favourite film festivals and we were excited to take a closer look at the fifth edition of the Europa! Europa Film Festival which is back in cinemas across Australia and New Zealand  from February 19 to March 19. To take a deep dive in to the program, we welcomed back the festival’s Artistic Director Spiro Economopoulos to tell us more about the 43 films on offer and some of his personal recommendations too.

We also reviewed one of the highlights of this year’s program called ‘Maspalomas’, a beautiful Spanish film that tells the story of Vicente who came out as gay at the age of 50, leaving his wife and daughter back home in San Sebastián, to enjoy the sun-drenched gay resort town of Maspalomas in the Canary Islands After recently splitting up with his partner Esteban in his mid-seventies, Vicente is making the most of his newly single life until one night he suffers a stroke and ending up in a coma. Upon waking up, Vicente finds that he’s been moved to a care home by his estranged daughter and to make matters worse, he finds himself back “in the closet”, since he hasn’t told anyone at the home about his sexual identity.

We ended the show with a recap on the recent award nomination announcements for the GLAAD Media Awards, the 98th Academy Awards and the BAFTA’s including some of the LGBTQIA+ nominees we’re hoping to see pick up a win this award season.

The post 2026 Europa! Europa Film Festival  appeared first on Out Takes.