Iris is pleased to focus this year on LGBT cinema from our cousins across the pond in Ireland. Produced in association with GAZE film festival in Dublin and with support from OUTburst, Belfast, we showcase the very best in contemporary LGBT Irish cinema and take stock of how LGBT people are represented on film during a period of momentous change in their community.

The selection begins with Making History, an exuberant documentary produced for GAZE following the announcement of this year’s historic gay marriage referendum. Snowfall is a beautiful and subtle animation exploring awakening, while Our Gemma follows comedian Gemma Hutton’s response to sectarianism and bigotry in Northern Ireland. Love and Other Drags enters the wild world of female impersonation, following 24 year old Stephen’s dream of drag stardom. Céad Ghrá, winner of Best Short at GAZE 2015, is a stunning and nuanced Gaelic-language film following two best friends’ pursuit of their crush and one’s poignant reassessment of their identity and affections.

Making History
Dir: Anna Rodgers
Ireland, 2015, 4min

IFTA winning director Anna Rodgers, in association with GAZE International Film Festival Dublin, presents a heart-warming account of the historic same-sex marriage referendum victory in May 2015.

Snowfall
Dir: Conor Whelan
Ireland, 2015, 4min

In this stunning animation by Dublin-based animator Conor Whelan, a nervous young man attends a party, leaving only to question a strange sense of self-realisation.

Love and Other Drags
Dir: Ryan Ralph
Ireland, 2014, 10min

The film follows 24 year old Belfast Boy who dreams of drag stardom with the support of his family, tracking his journey to making a drag career a potential reality. The professional world of drag success is unravelled; one that demands grand ambition and hard work while harbouring as many set backs as it does rewards.

Our Gemma
Dir: Cara Holmes
Ireland, 2015, 12min
Our Gemma explores questions of identity and how the comedian Gemma Hutton responds to bigotry and sectarianism in Northern Ireland.

Céad Ghrá
Dir: Brian Deane
Ireland, 2015, 13min

A nostalgic coming of age story about two best friends that set out on a quest in pursuit of their first crush.