· Pinewood Studios Group continue to offer the £20,000 award for Best British LGBT short film
· Trans stories make up almost a third of the competing films presented by some of Britain’s brightest film makers
Organisers of the Iris Prize have today (09/08/2017) announced details of the 15 short films competing for the Best British Award at the 2017 Iris Prize Festival. The winner who will be presented with a prize valued at £20,000 from sponsors Pinewood Studios Group will be announced during the October film festival in Cardiff, Wales.
Andrew Pierce, Iris Prize Chair, commented:
“This strand of the festival has become very popular as we focus on home grown talent. With nominating partners in Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Bristol we are confident that we cover all the bases and this year is possibly the strongest yet with the highest number of submissions recorded this year.
As we recognise the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales it is pleasing to see how life for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people has changed over the years. This is reflected in the stories our filmmakers have decided to share and it’s worth noting that one third of the films deal with trans stories.
One of the many highlights is the animated short Bearable by David James Holloway which asks the question what if your tribe within the gay community defined you? What if you lived with a real bear? Iris is many things to many people but to most of us she is a window on the world, and as our new strapline asks: “What will you see in Cardiff?”
A montage of the 15 competing films is available here: https://youtu.be/ubLqARN2bkY
See the full list of competing films are:
· an (un)natural birth - Laura Kingwell
· Bearable - David James Holloway
· Colours - Peter Lee Scott
· Fay Presto, Queen of the Close Up - Hanna Aqvilin
· Leroy - Marley Morrison
· One Summer - Gregory Oke
· Outlines - Ellie Rogers
· Pillowtalk - Louise Marie Cooke
· Rink - Gail Hackston
· Sunday Morning Coming Down - Harry Lighton
· Sununú: The Revolution of Love - Olivia Crellin
· We Love Moses - Dionne Edwards
· Where We Are Now - Lucie Rachel
· Wolves - Maria Balduzzi
· Yellow - Rowyn Mottershead
More details are available here: http://www.irisprize.org/the-prize-2017/best-british-short/
The names of the 35 short films competing for the Iris Prize will be announced on Monday 14 August.
The main festival sponsors are: The Michael Bishop Foundation, Welsh Government, BFI, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Pinewood Studios Group, Cardiff University, Cardiff BID, Gorilla Group, Co-op Respect and Cineworld. The festival also works in partnership with BAFTA Cymru and Pride Cymru.
Ends.
Further Details: Berwyn Rowlands, Tel: +44 (0)29 20232744, Mobile: +44 (0) 7860 818294
Email: berwyn@irisprize.org
www.irisprize.org
Notes to Editors:
The Iris Prize– Cardiff’s International LGBT Short Film Prize is supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation and at £30,000 continues to be the only LGBT short film prize in the world which allows the winner to make a new film. In 2016 Iris was identified as one of the top 50 film festivals in the world by Movie Maker Magazine and promoted by BAFTA to 'A' list festival status alongside Cannes and Sundance by officially being recognised as a qualifying festival for the BAFTA awards.
Past winners of the Iris Prize Best British award are: 2007 – Abbe Robinson (Private Life); 2008 – Connor Clements (James); 2009 – Aleem Khan (Diana); 2010 – Ana Moreno (Mosa); 2011 – Andrew Steggall (The Red Bike); 2012 – Fabio Youniss (A Stable for Disabled Horses); 2013 – Jay Bedwani (My Mother); 2014 – Charlie Francis (Middle Man); 2015 – Lloyd Eyre-Morgan (Closets) and Toby Fell-Holden – 2016 (UK).