Iris and Me
An ambitious site-specific installation of photographs by Wales based photographer Jon Pountney is one of the main events to celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary in 2016. He has been documenting Iris prize since its inception in 2006, as well as the short films made by winners of the prize. This event offers a window on the world of film production as well as offering previously unseen behind-the-scenes coverage of the eight Iris Prize Productions to date.
The installation is hosted in the Park Inn Cardiff City Centre Hotel, in partnership with Ffotogallery and British Council Wales. It includes up to 80 on-location photographs reproduced as banners, digitally projected images and as traditional photographic prints, but it also incorporates soundscapes and music from the Iris Prize archive, which includes the voices of past jury members such as actor Simon Russell Beale, and authors Alan Hollinghurst and Sarah Waters.
Elements of the exhibition including the large photographic prints are open to the public during the day for the duration of the 2016 festival.
However, the fully immersive performance of lights, digital projections on large screens, music, soundscapes takes place each evening. The 20-minute extravaganza is a marriage of 8 short films commissioned from film maker Adrian Naik, with an immersive soundscape designed by Dai Shel. There will be five opportunities to experience the performance at 6.30pm throughout the festival.
The exhibition is a visually impacting reminder to people that Iris is much more than a film festival which supports the creation of new film content. It also serves to demonstrate the cultural and economic impact of the film making sector in the UK and how Iris has co-produced 8 films with partners from 5 countries.