Hamish Downie is a Japan-based Australian Queer film-maker,  who is probably most well known for the short WW2 drama, “An American Piano” which featured in TIFF Kids 2015.

“The Last Time” tells the story of a woman escaping an abusive relationship. This is based on Hamish’s own personal experience with rape and same-sex domestic violence. Hamish wanted to tell the story through a lesbian relationship to show that domestic violence can happen to all in the LGBT community. It was shot in the urban ruins of greater Tokyo to show how isolated it can feel to be in a toxic relationship. Hamish recently read about abusive relationships being described as a one-on-one cult, so wanted to be able to show that.

“Everybody’s gotta learn sometime” tells the true story of two friends of Hamish’s. It is about a trans woman who comes out as trans to her girlfriend. It is a beautiful story about acceptance and the courage to be your true self, a podcast was also conducted with the couple about how the dynamics of their relationship has changed since coming out, which you can listen to here.

By Chloe Leeson

Chloe Leeson is the founder of Screenqueens. She is 20 and from the north of England (the proper north). She believes Harmony Korine is the future and is pretty sure she coined the term ‘selfie central’. She doesn’t like Pina Coladas or getting caught in the rain but she does like Ezra Miller a whole lot. Her favourite films are Into The Wild, The Beach and Lords of Dogtown. But DON’T talk to her about Paranormal Activity. She rants about cinema screenings @kawaiigoff.