FilmInk - Sydney filmmaker Damian Hempstead explores the cost of being unequally yoked in Tropfest 2026 shortlisted short film Out of Step
FilmInk profiles Damian Hempstead’s latest short film, Out of Step, exploring the real-life inspiration behind the story and it’s central themes of faith, love and the biblical principle of being equally yoked.
Written and directed by Damian and staring Rhett Wilks and Janitha Perera, the film follows two people drawn together despite standing on different spiritual foundations, asking whether love alone is enough to sustain a relationship when faith and personal conviction pull them in different directions.
Shortlisted for Tropfest 2026 from more than 700 submissions, Out of Step continues Damo & Tim Productions’ commitment to emotionally driven Australian storytelling, while further establishing Damian’s emerging voice as a writer-director bringing authenticity, vulnerability and faith to the screen.
