Overview

Love Languages and Other Illusions is a two-hander breakup drama. Christian and Ben, partners of nine years, spend the film’s single scene taking apart everything that went unsaid between them: money, ambition, distance, resentment. Written, directed and led by Blake J. Askew, it’s since become one of the more decorated LGBTQ shorts on the current festival circuit.

Production

Blake approached me after the film was shot, and interested by the possibility of a new colour grade. The film centres on the breakup of a male gay couple, and it became quickly apparent that black and white processing would be the way to go.

Post-Production

Stripping the grade back to black and white felt right for a story built entirely on two men saying the things they’d been avoiding for years. Colour gives an audience somewhere else to look. Black and white leaves them with the faces. I also redesigned the festival poster to carry the same monochrome language as the finished grade, so the film’s identity holds together from the first thing an audience sees to the last.

Festivals/Awards

• Best LGBT Film – Direct Monthly Online Film Festival
• Audience Choice Award – First-Time Filmmaker Showcase, Lift-Off Global Network / Pinewood Studios
• Best First Time Filmmaker – Krimson Horyzon International Film Festival
• Best LGBT Film – Calcutta International Cult Film Festival
• Best Psychological Film – Best Hollywood Day Players
• Best Actor, Best Drama Short – Afterlight Film Festival
• Official Selection – New York Lift-Off Film Festival
• Official Selection – 2026 Great Lakes International Film Festival
• Streaming on Whush as part of New Cinema / New Voices showcase