PODCAST | Francesco Belais interviews Neil Armfield, director of Holding the Man, awarded with a special mention at the 31st Torino Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture of the film

Aids, coming out, difficulties with parents: Holding The Man is a modern drama based on a true story. The film was awarded with a special mention at the 31st edition of the Torino Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. We caught up with its director Neil Armfield to talk about it.

HOLDING THE MAN: In 1976, Timothy Conigrave fell in love with the captain of the football team, John Caleo. So began a relationship that was to last for 15 years, a love affair that weathered disapproval, separation and, ultimately death.

With honesty and insight, Holding the Man explores the highs and lows of their life partnership: the intimacy, constraints, temptations, and the strength of heart both men had to find when they tested positive for HIV. The story opens at Kostka, Xavier’s junior [preparatory] school in Melbourne. Here, the author begins to sexually experiment with other boys, and comes to the realisation that he is gay. Several years later, on his first day at Xavier College (the Jesuit senior school), Conigrave sees John Caleo for the first time.