# Lesbian Space Princess

Lesbian Space Princess is a 2024 Australian animated comedy film which won the Teddy Award at the 75th Berlin Film Festival . It is the debut feature film by writer-directors Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese and producer Tom Phillips, and premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival on 27 October 2024.

## Plot

An anxious and introverted space princess Saira, who has thus far led a sheltered life, launches into a galactic quest to save her ex-girlfriend Kiki, a bounty hunter, from the "Straight White Maliens". A runaway gay-pop idol joins her as she encounters dangerous maniacs wielding blades, "gloom goo", and other hazards, as well as – "the scariest thing of all" – her own self-doubt.

## Cast

Voices of:
* Shabana Azeez
* Gemma Chua-Tran
* Bernie Van Tiel
* Richard Roxburgh
* Aunty Donna
* Kween Kong as Blade
* Madeleine Sami
* Jordan Raskopoulos
* Demi Lardner
* Reuben Kaye

## Production

The film was greenlit for production under the South Australian Film Corporation and Adelaide Film Festival's Film Lab: New Voices mentoring and funding initiative, following the inaugural round of the scheme in 2021, which led to sci-fi thriller Monolith premiering at the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival and enjoying international success. The Lesbian Space Princess team were eligible for up to A$600,000 in screen production grant funding for their script.
Lesbian Space Princess is the debut feature film by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese, who wrote and directed the film. Hough Hobbs is an artist, and writer/director Varghese a former award-winner at Tropfest. The film was produced by Tom Phillips of We Made A Thing Studios.
In May 2024, Adelaide Film Festival launched its "Adelaide Film Festival Goes to Cannes" program, partnering with Cannes Film Festival's film market, the Marché du Film, to showcase five local projects in an official presentation; Lesbian Space Princess was one of the five chosen, and Leela Varghese joined nine other emerging filmmakers at Cannes.
The graphic artists who worked on the film used Toon Boom Harmony, VFX, and high-end compositing. The production team worked at Artisan Post Group's space at Lot Fourteen, Adelaide, who worked on post-production of the Netflix series Stateless and ABC series Aftertaste, among others.
Music was by Michael Darren, and Ben Fernandez did the editing.
Hough Hobbs and Fernandez are both graduates of Flinders University's Creative Arts degrees.

## Themes

The story, inspired by the filmmakers' own lives, includes themes that relate to LGBTQI people, and themes include the importance of self-worth and self-love, feeling free to take up space, and being comfortable with your own company.

## Release

Lesbian Space Princess had four sold-out preview screenings at the Adelaide Film Festival on 27 October 2024. In December 2024 it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the 75th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama program in February 2025.
Australian distribution is being handled by Umbrella Entertainment.

## Accolades

Lesbian Space Princess won the Audience Award for Feature Fiction at Adelaide Film Festival, and the Teddy Award for best LGBTQ-related feature film at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival.