Out Takes

For this Out Takes, we celebrated the return of two local film festivals that are bringing fantastic queer cinema to big screens across Melbourne and Geelong over April and May. First up, we dived into this year’s TILDE which is the trans-led international film festival that is in its 12th year showcasing the work of established and emerging trans and gender diverse artists. In 2026, TILDE is getting out and about with eight sessions across six days in venues that support and highlight Melbourne’s diverse arts and cinema scene. We are always keen to find out more about the festival, so we went straight to the source and one of our favourite returning guests a.k.a TILDE CEO Ro’ Bright, for more details on this year’s theme, the program and more.

Then we caught up with another friend of the show, Louise Lever, this time in her capacity as Festival Director for the Geelong Pride Film Festival which is back for its ninth year from April 30 to May 10. This year’s program is jam-packed with contemporary and classic LGBTIQ+ themed films along with a series of special screenings and events, so we had Louise fill us in on all of the details. She also reminded us that with free public transport across Victoria until the end of May that there’s never been a better time to head on over to Geelong for some great queer cinema and to show some support for this fabulous festival.

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During April, the team at ACMI presented Drag Week, a super-sized selection of films about the art and artists of drag who blazed a trail in this irreverent, outrageous and unapologetic performance style. On Thursday April 23, JOY 94.9 and the Out Takes teamed up with ACMI to deliver a special live outside broadcast to celebrate a special shadow cast screening of ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ featuring some of Melbourne’s premiere drag talent including Lazy Susan, Art Simone, Pashion Couture and Zelda Moon. We also spoke with ACMI Film Program Team members Ella and Anton about the creation of this special celebration of drag on the big screen and we spoke with Nicole and two of the aspiring queer filmmakers about ACMI’s LGBTQIA+ Young Filmmakers Workshop. So listen up and enJOY this special highlights package of the ACMI Drag Week special live outside broadcast!

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For this Out Takes, we reviewed a new Aussie musical that brings, the latest television show from Dan Levy and two of the local films on offer for ACMI Drag Week plus an interview for you with one of Australia’s favourite comic actresses and a global movie star.

First up was ‘The Deb’, an original musical comedy about two teenage cousins who dig deep to find self-acceptance and a date to the Debutante Ball in a small country town in Australia. We thoroughly enjoyed this truly Aussie and wildly original movie musical that is also Rebel Wilson’s hotly anticipated directorial debut so who better to tell us about it than the star herself. Alaisdair caught up with Rebel online where they discussed why she wanted to tell this story, her musical inspirations, the importance of queer representation in this film and more.

Next was ‘Big Mistakes’, the latest project from Dan Levy which is streaming now on Netflix. Described as a bold, new comedic family saga within a high-stakes crime thriller. Big Mistakes follows Nicky (played by Dan Levy) and Morgan (played by Taylor Ortega), two deeply incapable siblings who are in over their heads when a misguided theft for their dying grandmother accidentally pulls them into the world of organized crime. Blackmailed into increasingly dangerous assignments, they clumsily fail upwards, sinking deeper into chaos they’re ill-equipped to handle. This one divided the OT team but it’s fair to say if you’re needing a Dan Levy fix then this should satisfy your cravings.

We finished up with reviews of two local films featured in ACMI Drag Week which is a week long celebration of queer films that highlight the wonderfully diverse world of drag from April 17 – 23. The first film is the rarely screened 1984 camp short film ‘XOS A Cry for Help’ about two sisters (both played by Doug Lucas) fighting over their recently departed grandmother’s final wishes. This was followed by our review of ‘Victorian Queens’ which explores Melbourne’s unique drag community through four very intimate and distinct portraits of four drag artists and showcases their progressive leadership through artistic expression while they push for cultural change and inclusion.

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For this Out Takes Extra, we had the pleasure of speaking with Rebel Wilson, the local comedy legend who has gone on to become an incredibly successful international movie star who is now launching her feature film directorial debut with a story that is near and dear to her heart. Bold, outrageous, and funny, ‘The Deb’ is a vibrant Australian musical about two wildly different teenage cousins who start out at odds, but ultimately find common ground, and unexpected friendship, at their town’s annual debutante ball. It’s in Australian cinemas now and we got to speak to Rebel in the lead up to its local release about why she wanted to tell this story, her musical inspirations, the importance of queer representation in this film and more. Enjoy this Out Takes Extra then go see ‘The Deb’ on the big screen this April! 

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For this Out Takes, we put the spotlight on Drag Week which is coming to ACMI this April which allows you to experience a super-sized week of films that walked so Drag Race could run … in heels! Our special guest was Spiro Economopoulos who has recently joined the team at ACMI to help bring great cinema to the masses in Melbourne and he’s kicking it off with a week long celebration of queer films that highlight the wonderfully diverse world of drag. From April 17 – 23, ACMI will screen twelve films about the art and artists of drag who blazed a trail in this irreverent, outrageous and unapologetic performance style. Spiro helps to break it all down for us including the special screening of ‘The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert’ as you’ve never seen it before, performed with a live shadow cast of local drag queens Lazy Susan, Zelda Moon, Pashion Couture and Art Simone plus a special live JOY 94.9 outside broadcast from ACMI featuring the Out Takes team from 6 – 7pm before the screening kicks off at 7.30pm – see you there! We also revisited our reviews of ‘Jimpa’ and Pillion, two of our favourite queer films of 2026 that are now available to rent or buy online.

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