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.