Submissions 2010
The Prize
Submissions for the 2010 Iris Prize Festival are now closed!
The Iris Prize – Cardiff’s International gay and lesbian short film prize - is open to any short film which is by, for, about or of interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex audiences and which must have been completed within 2 years prior to the submission deadline of 2 July 2010. (That is they must have been completed between 5 July 2008 and 2 July 2010.)
The winner of the Iris Prize will receive the largest prize for a gay and lesbian short film in the world - a package valued at £25,000. The prize, generously sponsored by the
Previous winners of the Iris Prize have been:
2007 - Dee Rees (USA) for her short film Pariah
2008 - Till Kleinert (
2009 - Eldar Rapaport for his short film Steam (USA) (pictured above left)
Screen Academy Wales Best UK Short
The winner of the Screen Academy Wales Best UK Short will be offered a subsidized place on a training course or courses of the winner’s choice to the value of £1,000. The training course will take place in Wales and will be hosted at one of the Screen Academy Wales partner institutions.
For further information see www.screenacademywales.org
Previous winners of the UK Best Short have been:
2007 - Abbe Robinson for her short film Private Life
2008 - Connor Clements for his short film James
2009 - Aleem Khan for his short film Diana (pictured above right)
We're not just looking for shorts...
Iris Prize Best Feature Award
Although The Iris Prize is the centre piece of The Iris Prize Festival, we also screen feature films. In 2008 the Iris Prize Best Feature Award was introduced and in 2010 six new feature films will be screened from which the Friends of Iris will choose the Iris Prize Best Feature Award. The winner of the Iris Prize Best Feature Award will receive a cash prize generously sponsored by Martin Briggs Independent Financial Adviser.
The previous winners of the Iris Prize Best Feature Award are:
2008 - Dream Boy (USA) directed by James Bolton
2009 - Redwoods (USA) directed by David Lewis
A little bit more about Iris…
The Iris Prize was born out of the desire to create an annual international prize that would recognise, celebrate and promote gay and lesbian moving image content, which would also promote tolerance, acceptance and further understanding of the credibility and business of gay and lesbian filmmaking.
Over the past twenty years, gay and lesbian cinema has grown from niche market status into a viable and successful international film industry and with the phenomenal success of 
number of vibrant film festivals dedicated to gay and lesbian cinema has played a crucial role in defining and developing the genre of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender film by providing an important cultural and social outlet to view the work of gay filmmakers throughout the world. By sharing information and communicating with one another, these festivals constitute a network of support and a world wide community dedicated to the evolution of gay and lesbian cinema.
Established in 2006 by The Festivals Company, the Iris Prize quickly secured the support of some of the most successful, vibrant and supportive gay and lesbian film festivals throughout the world (to see the full list, click here) to create a single international platform that aims to further raise the profile of gay and lesbian cinema and help a new generation of filmmakers achieve success on an international stage.
The partner festivals annually select one film each to go into a shortlist of 30 films. The remaining films are chosen through open submissions.