Iris joins forces with long-term media partner as the new DIVA Film Festival for Lesbian Visibility Week

The organisers of the Cardiff-based Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival are thrilled to announce that they will play an important role in a new film festival which will present an eclectic programme of short and features celebrating queer cinema from the UK and beyond. The first DIVA Film Festival, in partnership with Iris Prize will take place at the Garden Cinema in Covent Garden, London, between April 24-28, during Lesbian Visibility Week.  The films all feature independent queer female and non-binary content.

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DIVA Film Festival’s Director and Iris Fellow, Jacquie Lawrence said: “There are very few film festivals in the UK that focus purely on queer female narratives, especially those across the whole LGBTQIA spectrum. The DIVA Film Festival aims to do just that and the special partnership with Iris is a perfect way to package, promote and play films for, about and by queer women and non-binary people. “It is wonderful that we will be screening a couple of features seen at Iris 2023 (Chuck Chuck Baby and Artist Unknown) and two shorts (the Best British short winner F**KED and Jake Graf's Stone) but it is most pertinent that Some Girls Hate Dresses, made by Mena Fombo, the first recipient of the Iris Prize Documentary Film Finance Fund award, will get its London screening.”

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Iris Prize Festival Manager, Grant Vidgen said: “We are delighted to be working with DIVA on this new film festival. Iris has benefited enormously from more than ten years of media support from DIVA magazine. This partnership is a great way of sharing films exploring the queer female experience with wider audiences.”

Here is the line-up for the inaugural DIVA Film Festival, in partnership with Iris Prize:

Wednesday 24 April

Life of Riley + F**KED (short) + Q&A

• Life of Riley

A candid and intimate film following the eventful life of activist, publisher and creator of diversity awards, Linda Riley. Combining interviews with fly-on-the-wall filming gives an insight into the 'Head Lesbian of the World' as she navigates the world of celebrity and politics. Dir. Jacquie Lawrence | UK | 2024 | 90 mins

• F**KED (short)

When Dani tells Jess she might be interested in sleeping with guys again, it doesn’t go down too well. What really are the rules in an open relationship? Dir. Sara Harrak | UK | 2023

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Saturday 27 April

Afternoon slot: Shorts Programme: Real Talk + Q&A These short films all centre different aspects of lesbian and queer women’s lives, from the UK, the USA and India. Ranging from futuristic queer parenting scenarios, to an intimate documentary reflecting on 1990s black British tomboys, all of these films feature real conversations about living ones’ life as your true self.

• Unclaimed

Fiona Devers, a facilities-manager-and-wanna-be-performer, is curious to explore her kinkier side. She brings up the possibility of polyamory to her long-term girlfriend, and receives a less than enthusiastic response. Dir. Carolyn Ratteray | USA | 2023

• Places I’ve Called My Own

Zee returns to India for the funeral of her father, during the middle of an IVF cycle. There she finds her mother is in denial about her sexuality, whilst her ex-girlfriend has rebuilt her life with a man. Dir. Sushma Khadepaun-Parmar | France / India | 2023

• Monitor

In an over-populated future, Jenna and Fi must raise a robot ‘baby’ under observation before receiving a licence to start a family. But as this process unravels deep-set tensions between the couple, will they get the result they want, and deserve? Dir. Margo Roe | UK | 2023

• Some Girls Hate Dresses

Winner of the Iris Prize Documentary Film Fund, Some Girls Hate Dresses is a nostalgic and evocative look into the lives of Black British tomboys who wore the label with pride in the 1990s. Dir. Mena Fombo | UK | 2024 Evening slot:  Chuck Chuck Baby + Q&A

• Chuck Chuck Baby

An ode to female friendship, love and resilience, Chuck Chuck Baby is intertwined with witty, observant humour and unforgettable spontaneous musical numbers. Set in industrial north Wales, Helen (Louise Brealey) lives with her ex-husband, his 20-year-old girlfriend, their new baby - and his dying mother Gwen. Her life is a grind, and is spent mostly at work at the local chicken factory. The monotony of life is upended when Joanne (Annabel Scholey), Helen’s childhood infatuation and former neighbour, comes back to town. Dir. Janis Pugh | UK | 2023 | 101 mins

• Scorpion Grass (short)

Yan Yan wishes to bring her girlfriend home during the Lunar New Year, causing shame and anger in her father. Rosario, a migrant from the Philippines, tries to intervene into the heated argument on the street. Not all is as it seems, and this encounter leads to an unlikely friendship and revelations. Dir. Jamie Chi | UK | 2023

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Sunday 28 April

Matinee slot: Polarized + Q&A

• Polarized

Two women from the same town, but from very different worlds. When a white farm worker, Lisa, gets fired for racism by Dalia, her Palestinian boss, there seems to be no going back. Yet it is the start of an unexpected connection between the two. As the pair enjoy a growing friendship and attraction, they must break the barriers of race, class and religion that have kept them apart, or risk settling for the lives their families have laid out for them. Dir. Shamim Sarif | UK / Canada | 2023 Evening slot: Artist Unknown + Stone + Q&A

• Artist Unknown

An art heist playful comedy becomes a queer action rom com in this witty and fast-paced debut feature from Cinder Chou. Juniper, an insecure martial artist, must find out the origins of a painting after two thieves try to steal it from her. When she meets Penny, another fighter, they become involved in the mystery, and they connect over what they’ve both been hiding inside. Nominated for the Iris Prize 2023 Best Feature, and winner of the Jury Award at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival 2023. Dir. Cinder Chou | USA | 2023

• Stone (short)

When Tess learns of her estranged father’s death, she travels to the funeral hoping for nothing more than some closure. Blindsided by the revelation that her father was a transgender woman, Tess turns to her mother for answers. Dir. Jake Graf | UK | 2023

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Iris Prize will return this year: Tuesday 8 October – Sunday 13 October 2024.

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Iris yn ymuno â phartner cyfryngau tymor hir ar gyfer gŵyl ffilm newydd DIVA a gynhelir yn ystod Wythnos Gwelededd Lesbiaid

• Gŵyl ffilm newydd yn dathlu sinema queer i'w lansio ar 24 Ebrill, yn Garden Cinema Llundain
• Mae Gŵyl Ffilm DIVA mewn partneriaeth â Gwobr Iris yn cyflwyno ffilmiau nodwedd a ffilmiau byrion o bob cwr o'r byd gan gynnwys Gwobr Gorau Ym Mhrydain Gwobr Iris gan Sara Harrak, FKED**
• "Ychydig iawn o wyliau ffilm yn y DU sy'n canolbwyntio'n llwyr ar naratifau benywaidd queer, yn enwedig y rhai ar draws y sbectrwm LHDTQIA cyfan. Nod Gŵyl Ffilm DIVA yw gwneud hynny," Cyfarwyddwr Gŵyl Ffilm DIVA, Jacquie Lawrence

Mae'n bleser gan drefnwyr Gŵyl Ffilm LHDTQ+ Gwobr Iris yng Nghaerdydd gyhoeddi y byddant yn chwarae rhan bwysig mewn gŵyl ffilm newydd a fydd yn cyflwyno rhaglen eclectig o ffilmiau byrion a ffilmiau nodwedd sy’n dathlu sinema queer o'r DU a thu hwnt. Cynhelir Gŵyl Ffilm DIVA, mewn partneriaeth â Gwobr Iris, am y tro cyntaf yn Garden Cinema yn Covent Garden, Llundain, rhwng Ebrill 24 a 28, yn ystod Wythnos Gwelededd Lesbiaid.  Mae'r ffilmiau i gyd yn ymwneud â chynnwys benywaidd queer ac anneuaidd annibynnol.

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Dywedodd Cyfarwyddwr Gŵyl Ffilm DIVA a Chymrawd Iris, Jacquie Lawrence: "Ychydig iawn o wyliau ffilm yn y DU sy'n canolbwyntio'n llwyr ar naratifau benywaidd queer, yn enwedig y rhai ar draws sbectrwm LHDTQIA cyfan. Nod Gŵyl Ffilm DIVA yw gwneud hynny'n union ac mae'r bartneriaeth arbennig gydag Iris yn ffordd berffaith o becynnu, hyrwyddo a chwarae ffilmiau ar gyfer, am a chan fenywod queer a phobl anneuaidd. "Mae'n wych y byddwn yn dangos ychydig o ffilmiau nodwedd a welwyd yn Iris 2023 (Chuck Chuck Chuck Baby ac Artist Unknown) a dwy ffilm fer (yr enillydd Gorau Ym Mhrydain FKED** a Stone gan Jake Graf) ond mae'n fwyaf perthnasol bod Some Girls Hate Dresses a gan Mena Fombo, derbynnydd cyntaf gwobr Cronfa Cyllid Ffilm Ddogfennol Gwobr Iris, yn cael ei dangos yn Llundain."

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Dywedodd Rheolwr Gŵyl Gwobr Iris, Grant Vidgen: "Rydym yn falch iawn o fod yn gweithio gyda DIVA ar yr ŵyl ffilm newydd hon. Mae Iris wedi elwa'n fawr o fwy na deng mlynedd o gefnogaeth y cyfryngau gan gylchgrawn DIVA. Mae'r bartneriaeth hon yn ffordd wych o rannu ffilmiau sy'n archwilio'r profiad benywaidd queer gyda chynulleidfaoedd ehangach."

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Dyma'r rhestr ar gyfer Gŵyl Ffilm gyntaf DIVA, mewn partneriaeth â Gwobr Iris:

Dydd Mercher 24 Ebrill

Life of Riley + F**KED (ffilm fer) + sesiwn Holi ac Ateb

• Life of Riley

Ffilm onest a phersonol yn dilyn bywyd llawn bwrlwm yr actifydd, y cyhoeddwr a chrëwr gwobrau amrywiaeth, Linda Riley. Mae cyfuno cyfweliadau â ffilmio pry far y pared yn rhoi cipolwg ar 'Brif Lesbiad y Byd' wrth iddi lywio byd enwogion a gwleidyddiaeth. Cyf. Jacquie Lawrence | DU | 2024 | 90 munud

• F**KED (film fer)

Pan fydd Dani yn dweud wrth Jess efallai y bydd ganddi ddiddordeb mewn cysgu gyda dynion eto, nid yw'n mynd i lawr yn rhy dda. Beth yw'r rheolau mewn perthynas agored? Dir. Sara Harrak | DU | 2023

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