Berlin
Screening in the Panorama section as a world premiere at the festival is an Australian film like you have (probably) never seen before and winner of the Teddy Prize here which recognises the best Queer film screening at this year’s Berlinale…
THERE are many in the LGBTQIA+ community who have probably been waiting for a film like this – funny, zany and 100 per cent Gay as its makers like to trumpet – and that much was evident from the love the audience showed for the film at its world premiere screening (see Instagram -pending).
This is a break-up, breakdown, recovery and new horizons story. And funny with a few musical ditties along the way too. Set in space – the Gaylaxy – and is a 2D anime feature running at 86 minutes.
Entertaining, funny, and different, its award is recognition that a new amination studio aesthetic may be being born.
©We Made A Thing Studios
Made by twentysomething Aussie partners Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs, it is centred around the character of Saira (Shabana Azeez) and her love life and the pair admitted in a post screening Q&A that they channelled a lot of their previous single status – before meeting each other – into the main character, Saira (Shabana Azeez).
Some of the characters are familiar tropes and bogey figures – sure, it’s easy to lampoon them, especially in the Gaylaxy Varghese and Hough Hobbs create. This is 2D anime that that works because of its comedic aspect and has a spirit of panto – in that there are figures to cheer and decry.
© Kyahm Ross
Saira is a person of colour and feels ignored, unrecognised and unseen – folks get her name wrong all the time and she perhaps takes it all too heart a little bit too much and her reaction to goddess Kiki (Bernie Van Tiel) dumping her is problematic and symptomatic of a needy person (in general). They live on the planet Clitopolis – where everything is a bit larger than life and Saira does not fit in.
Kiki is super confident and has lots of attention and is also a person of colour – though that hardly comes through – and just finds Saira boring and dumps her at the beginning of the film.
Saira is an anxiety embodied emo. This is a massive part of her story – growing out of that, to get beyond that part of herself. is at the heart of this tale.
She really doesn’t know what to do with herself after being dumped, until Kiki – wait for it – gets kidnapped by a trio of Single White Males – known as Maliens in this galaxy!
They can’t get girls/women either. Saira is on a mission to rescue Kiki and meets several other characters who both help and hinder her – the most significant is a new friend in Willow (Gemma Chua Tran) who is cool, a little diffident but generally more with it and interested in Saira, not just as a friend.
© Kyahm Ross
This all zips along and is held together by humour, quirky animation and its comedic songs.
There was significant love for this film in Berlin, its journey is just beginning and Varghese and Hough Hobbs could be entertaining embassadors for something joyous coming out of the Gaylaxy here on real planet earth.
How much you like or loathe it – sorry, there are folks who will not find merit in this – but they shouldn’t watch it, that is all.
Its producers are Australian straight white males – illustrating the idea that anyone can and should watch this and judge it on aesthetic terms.
Main picture: Saira (Shabana Azeez) and Willow (Gemma Chua Tran) ©We Made A Thing Studios
All pictures courtesy of Berlinale 2025 accredited media
More to follow from here: Berlinale 75 (2025) wrap and review, stories – ‘Letters from Wolf Street’, ‘Village Rockstars 2‘
ACV rating: **** (four out of five)
