Podcast: starGAZE Participants Venus Patel, Jack Warren & Stephen T. Lally

In today’s episode, we’re delighted to partner with the GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival and the National Talent Academy for Film & TV Drama to celebrate this year’s starGAZE participants.

We’re joined by multidisciplinary artist Venus Patel, writer/filmmaker Jack Warren and director, screenwriter, and concept artist Stephen T. Lally to discuss their professional achievements, the films that inspired them, and the impact starGAZE has had on their careers so far.

starGAZE, the professional development initiative supporting six emerging LGBTQIA filmmakers, returns for its third year in 2026. Applications are now open and will close at 5pm on Monday 20th April. For more information on how to apply, visit www.nationaltalentacademies.ie/film-tv.

Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.

Venus Patel

Venus is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist working in film, theatre, and visual arts. Her work examines social conformity and Queer/POC suppression through the lens of absurdity, informed by her experiences as a trans woman of colour. Her debut short film, Eggshells (2022), which she directed, wrote, and acted in, premiered at GAZE Film Festival, and won the RDS Taylor Art Award and the Image Now Multimedia Award.

Her most recent short film, Daisy: Prophet of the Apocalypse (2023), has screened at film festivals across the US, the UK, Ireland, Germany, and France, and won an Audience Award from Translations: Seattle Trans Film Festival 2024. Her film work has been exhibited in the Crawford Art Gallery, the Complex, IMMA, Butler Gallery, and Hypha Gallery (Mayfair, London).

Jack Warren

Jack is a writer and filmmaker based in Dublin. Their award-winning short films have screened all over the world, including: Papergirl, which has screened at GAZE, Final Girls Berlin, Body is Reality: Trans Horror on Screen at the Irish Film Institute, and the Trans Genre, Trans Form Film Festival, where it took home the audience prize; Toxic Astrology Ex-Best Friends, which has screened at the FRINGE! Queer Film and Arts Fest and the Trans Image, Trans Experience Festival; and Artemis, which screened at the Woodstock Film Festival. Jack recently took home the Bronze Prize from the Soho Horror Film Festival for their horror comedy short Blair’s Craft Projects, where it was honoured by Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project) and Jed Shepherd (Host).

Jack’s screenplay Violent Delights was selected to be pitched at the American Cinematheque’s PROOF Film Festival, as well as selected for workshop by Stowe Story Labs and the National Talent Academy’s Writers’ Club, facilitated through the GALPAL Collective. Their screenplay Forty Foot, which they co-wrote with Beatrix Herriott O’Gorman, was selected for a Screen Ireland Fellowship for the Stowe Story Labs Connemara Writers’ Retreat, and their script Eggs Over Easy is currently being developed by The Dazey Phase for an anthology on small moments of trans joy. Between film projects, Jack is usually furiously tapping away about their love of movies for Film in Dublin or on their website, hellojackwarren.com.

Stephen T. Lally

Stephen is an award-winning queer director, screenwriter, and concept artist with a passion for visual storytelling, a flair for fantasy, and a love of LGBTQIA stories that blend humour with heart. After graduating from Technological University Dublin (TUD), his short film musical Lost for Words screened at over thirty international festivals, including the Academy and BAFTA-qualifying Cork Film Festival, Brno 16, and Stuttgart Filmwinter. The script was nominated for an Oxygen SMEDIA Award, and the film itself won numerous accolades, including an award at the New York International Independent Film Festival.

His work is defined by bold, whimsical tales with a side of irreverent humour, whether he is crafting his own narrative projects or larger-scale commercial ones. Professionally, he has directed commercial content, music videos, and animation for clients such as RuPaul, Rimmel London, Disney, Universal, and The Royal Opera House. What sets his process apart is a hands-on approach—he often develops projects from initial concept through to final production, designing costumes, storyboards, and even the visual language of the worlds he creates. He thrives on collaboration but also enjoys diving into the details, whether sketching creature designs or choreographing musical sequences.

Beyond commercial work, he has explored immersive storytelling, including a fashion film installation at East London’s Fifty Four Gallery, and worked as a production designer on Claire Oakley’s award-winning short Beautiful Enough. His true passion lies in narrative filmmaking, particularly stories that fuse fantasy and imaginative world-building with LGBTQIA themes that centre queer joy and uplift audiences.

Empress Clawscream is an LGBTQIA fantasy romcom and his first narrative project after years directing commercial content. The film was selected for Festival Formula’s slate in 2023 and won Best Sci-Fi Film at the Berlin Short Film Festival and Best Hair & Make-Up at the British Short Film Awards. It has screened at numerous international festivals, including the BIFA-qualifying Beeston Festival (where it was nominated for both Best in Festival and Best Pride Film), the Academy Award-qualifying deadCenter, the British Council-listed Poppy Jasper International Film Festival, and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.

Tethered is a short film that interweaves live action, animation, and modern dance, and is a deeply personal exploration of family and Irish myth. It was a finalist in 2018’s Film in Cork scheme, with production costs raised through a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2019. Shot in Kerry and Dublin in 2022 and executive produced by the late Tova Borgnine, the film demonstrates his ambition as a director and his affinity for fantasy. It debuted in 2023 at the Kerry International Film Festival and has screened at various festivals, including IndieCork and Disappear Here. Tethered has won seven international awards to date and continues its festival run.

His current short film project as writer, director, and songwriter is Charity!. The project made the finals of The Pitch Film Fund before being selected for BFI NETWORK Short Film funding in 2023, as one of 37 funded projects out of 1,116 submissions across the UK. This high-camp, high-energy LGBTQIA musical comedy stars Niamh McCormack (of Netflix’s upcoming House of Guinness and one of 2025’s Rising Stars Ireland). Charity! follows a closeted Irish pop princess wrestling with the dark side of fame and is currently in post-production, with an anticipated completion date of June 2025.

National Talent Academy for Film & Television Drama

Established in 2021, the National Talent Academy for Film & Television Drama, an initiative of Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland managed by Ardán, supports emerging talent across Ireland. Recognising a wealth of underutilised ability, often hindered by barriers to access and unclear career pathways, the NTA aims to unlock this potential and strengthen Ireland’s global reputation for creative excellence.

The Academy actively supports diverse and regional talent, offering training, experience, and clear routes into sustainable careers in film and television. Through its programmes, it creates tangible opportunities for writers, directors, producers, and development professionals, while fostering collaboration and building a connected, nationwide talent network.

The NTA is committed to breaking down barriers to entry and progression. It welcomes participants from all backgrounds, across regions, identities, and experiences, and is dedicated to ensuring that Ireland’s screen industries reflect the full diversity of its people. Read more about the work they do here.

For over three decades, GAZE has stood as a cultural cornerstone of Ireland’s LGBTQIA community. Founded in 1992, before homosexuality was decriminalised in Ireland, the festival has grown into an internationally recognised platform championing bold, unapologetically queer and trans storytelling—from compelling narratives and insightful documentaries to innovative DIY filmmaking. Each year, across seven days, GAZE presents more than 100 Irish and international films, ranging from grassroots gems to cinematic standouts, alongside panels, workshops, and networking events that connect filmmakers, audiences, and industry professionals.

At its core, GAZE celebrates the full spectrum of LGBTQIA experience - tender, camp, radical, hilarious, heartbreaking, and everything in between. Its audiences are engaged and loyal, with regular sell-out screenings, while its filmmakers form part of an alumni that has helped shape the queer film landscape both in Ireland and internationally. Read more about the festival here.