Out Takes

6 May 2025

‘The Wedding Banquet’ with special guest Andrew Ahn and 2025 German Film Festival

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‘The Wedding Banquet’ with special guest Andrew Ahn and 2025 German Film Festival

For this Out Takes, we reviewed three films that explore very different themes including chosen family, intergenerational relationships, artistic redemption, persecution, and propaganda. First up was ‘The Wedding Banquet’, the highly anticipated remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 classic which updates the original with a fresh take on the romantic comedy genre featuring an acclaimed and hilarious cast of multigenerational talent including Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, and Academy Award winner Youn Yuh-jung. Our special guest was Andrew Ahn, the co-writer and director of this refreshed adaptation who spoke to us about the journey of this remake, it’s Korean glow up and incredible cast plus my wish for a sequel to ‘Fire Island’, his big gay hit film from 2022.

We then took at the return of the 2025 HSBC German Film Festival which returns to Australian cinemas this May with a stellar line up of premieres, special guests and more. We reviewed ‘John Cranko’, Joachim A. Lang’s biopic about the brilliant dancer and choreographer who left the Royal Ballet in London in the early 60’s after he was entrapped by an undercover police officer into arrest for ‘homosexual activity’ and found fame in Stuttgart as its great dance creator. We also looked at the documentary ‘Riefenstahl’ that explores Leni Riefenstahl’s artistic legacy and her complex ties to the Nazi regime, juxtaposing her self-portrayal with evidence suggesting awareness of the regime’s atrocities. We were joined by special guest of the festival Andres Veiel, the film’s writer, and director, to delve into her complex relationship with the Nazi regime and her extraordinary career and life.