Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs’s South Australian animated feature Lesbian Space Princess and actress Rose Byrne received honours at the Berlin International Film Festival over the weekend.
The former, about an anxious space princess (voiced by Shabana Azeez) who is thrust out of her sheltered life and into a galactic quest to save her bounty hunter ex-girlfriend from the Straight White Maliens, was handed Best Feature Film at the 39th Teddy Awards, while Byrne took home the Berlin Film Festival award for best performance for her role in Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
Considered one the oldest queer film prizes in the world, the Teddy Award recognises films and individuals that communicate issues of social diversity and contribute to greater tolerance, acceptance, solidarity, and equality in society.
It’s yet another milestone for the animated comedy, written by Hobbs and Varghese, and produced by Tom Phillips, which became the first full-length animated feature made in South Australia after being developed through the state’s Film Lab: New Voices initiative.
The film’s world premiere in the festival’s Panorama section has been met with strong critical reception, with The Hollywood Reporter identifying Lesbian Space Princess as a ‘Berlin Hidden Gem’, while Variety noted it served as a “testament to the power of independent filmmaking and the importance of representation in media”.
In accepting the award, Hobbs said they were “so privileged to make this film and for this film to bring us here”.
Byrne received the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for her role as Linda, a mother attempting to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, which also stars fellow Aussie Danielle Macdonald screened at Berlinale, after premiering at last month’s Sundance Film Festival.
At an earlier press conference, Byrne said she was drawn to the “line of reality and subconscious” showcased through Linda’s perspective in the story.
“That language is so interesting and fascinating and something I relate to,” she said.
“I’m interested in exploring [it], particularly through the eyes of a woman about being a mother, which is something we don’t often get to see.”
Of the other major awards, Dag Johan Haugerud’s Norwegian drama Drømmer (Dreams (Sex Love)) was named Best Film, Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro received the Grand Jury Prize for fantasy sci-fi O último azul (The Blue Trail), and Chinese director Meng Huo won Best Director for drama Sheng xi zhi di (Living the Land).