BALCONY – First Iris Prize British Winner gets TV premier on BBC Two Wales and then on BBC iPlayer

This is the billing for the TV schedules: This year a British short film, for the first time, won the prestigious Iris Prize.  Balcony took not only the best British short but also the £30,000 Iris Prize, the main award of the festival.  As the Cardiff based festival, often referred to as the “gay Oscars” celebrates its 10th birthday, this is the TV premiere of the winning film.  Balcony is set on a housing estate and features Tina played by Charlotte Beaumont (Broadchurch), a troubled teenage girl, who falls for Dana, whose family are from Afghanistan.  The films shocks and surprises but not in the way you might expect. Balcony will receive its TV premier on Monday 7 November at 11.10pm (23.10) on BBC Two Wales and then on the BBCiPlayer for 30 days. WATCH BALCONY ON BBC iPLAYER   Christina Macaulay, Commissioning Executive at BBC Wales said: “When I saw the winning film from Iris this year I was really keen to give audiences in Wales and beyond a chance to see it. It is great that we are able to give Balcony its TV premiere on BBC 2 Wales and make it available to audiences through iplayer for the next 30 days after transmission.  I hope through BBC Wales it can reach audiences across the UK as it really deserves to be widely seen.” Cheryl Dunye, the Chair of the jury said: “We felt that the director crafted a powerful film where not a single moment of its 17 minutes was wasted. The lead performance by Charlotte Beaumont was particularly outstanding as she took us on an internal transformation that left us speechless”. “The film explored a myriad of social justice issues not only relevant to LGBT filmmaking but also with those that intersect with race, class, and gender issues in both the UK and the world today”. Commenting on this year’s festival, Director Berwyn Rowlands said: “It has been an amazing time, and this year has proven to be the tipping point in the festival’s growth and awareness in its landmark tenth anniversary year, with a UK film winning the prize for the very first time against such strong international competition. What’s incredible about Balcony’s success is that two independent juries reached the same conclusion.  We’ve waited ten years for this to happen and I’m thrilled that British talent has been recognised in this year when BAFTA officially acknowledged the Iris Prize for award eligibility”. He added, “We’ve also seen many memorable moments, one of the highlights being Michael Sheen paying an unexpected visit to wish Iris a happy birthday”. Accepting both prizes, director Toby Fell-Holden said, “We are thrilled and humbled to have been awarded both the Iris Prize and Best British Award.  The film was a huge labour of love that tackled issues of perception around race and sexual identity”. “It is a big honour to have Iris recognise the film”, he continued, “particularly given the current political climate around immigration and what it means to be ‘other’. Our deepest thanks goes out to the jury of the awards”. Balcony director Toby Fell-Holden is pictured above with Festival Director Berwyn Rowlands .