Leela Varghese

Biography

Leela Varghese (born 1992 in Bundaberg) is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and actress. From 2008 to 2018, Leela Varghese worked as a presenter for the Australian children's series *Totally Wild*; beginning in 2011, she directed and wrote several short films. She garnered particular attention with the short film *Crush*, which won the award for Best Screenplay at Tropfest in 2019. Subsequently, together with Emma Hough Hobbs, she developed the feature film *Lesbian Space Princess*, which screened in the Panorama section at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival and was awarded the Teddy Award for Best LGBTQIA+ Feature Film. Varghese is openly lesbian and frequently explores queer perspectives and diversity in her work.