The world’s largest short film prize is a whopping £30,000 and is presented annually in Cardiff to the Best LGBT short film as decided by an independent jury, chaired this year by popular actress Lynn Hunter.
The Iris Prize, known to film aficionados as the Gay Short Film Oscars, is now in its 9th year and to some the best kept secret Cardiff has, opens on Wednesday 7 October.
As the organisers prepare for the 10th anniversary in 2016, they are determined that the 2015 festival will also make a mark! Taking place at the same time as the Rugby World Cup, the festival’s opening night film is a documentary called Scrum, which follows the trials and tribulations of three men competing during the Bingham Cup – the gay rugby world cup.
The fresh new slogan adopted by the festival team dictates “Watch films. Party nightly. Repeat.” - this is possibly why the festival is popular with both film makers and members of the public, with attendances last year hitting 7,000.
“Access to the film makers is a big part of the Iris appeal,” Festival Director Berwyn Rowlands feels.
“We have an access all areas policy, which basically means members of the public have easy access to the talent attending the festival. The VIP area is shared by everyone – because we don’t have one – every part of the festival is VIP and open to the public,” he added.
2015 is proving to be another popular year for attracting talent to Cardiff, with film makers attending from all over the world. These are just some of the film makers who will introducing their films at screenings in Cardiff:
Baggage, Dir: Sarah Ball (UK) - pictured
Bunker, Dir: Vibeke Heide (Norway)
Chance, Dir: Jake Graf (UK)
Charlie, Dir: Shawn Ryan (USA) - pictured above
Charlie, Prod: John Ainsworth (USA) - pictured above
Closets, Dir: Lloyd Eyre-Morgan (UK)
Daniel, Dir: Dean Loxton (UK)
An Afternoon (En Eftermiddag), Dir: Soren Green (Denmark)
Hora, Dir: Yoav Brill (Israel)
Intrinsic Moral Evil, Dir: Harm Weistra (The Netherlands)
Mirrors, Dir: Neil Ely (UK)
Quixotic Player, Dir: Jay Bedwani (UK)
Roxanne, Dir: Paul Frankl (UK)
Showboy, Dir: Samuel Leighton-Dore (Australia) - pictured
Sundar, Dir: Rohan Kanawade (India)
Sundar, Crew: Vikrant Pednekar (India)
Thirst, Dir: Guy Sahaf (Israel)
No Strings, Dir: Eoin Maher (Ireland)
Paper Thin, Dir: Nataly Lebouleux (UK)
Morning is Broken, Dir: Simon Anderson (UK)
Morning is Broken, Prod: James Walker (UK)
Want it, Dir: Lee Haven Jones (UK) Filmmakers vying for £30,000 and £14,000 prizes are heading to Cardiff for 2015 Iris Prize festival
• Film makers from Norway, The Netherlands, India, Australia, Israel, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, UK and The USA on their way to Cardiff vying for £30,000 Iris Prize supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation
• Largest British contingency ever to attend Cardiff screenings for Pinewood Studios’ Sponsored Best of British Award
• 40 amazing stories representing the diversity of LGBT life from 18 countries make final short film selections
• Largest British contingency ever to attend Cardiff screenings for Pinewood Studios’ Sponsored Best of British Award
• 40 amazing stories representing the diversity of LGBT life from 18 countries make final short film selections
The world’s largest short film prize is a whopping £30,000 and is presented annually in Cardiff to the Best LGBT short film as decided by an independent jury, chaired this year by popular actress Lynn Hunter.
The Iris Prize, known to film aficionados as the Gay Short Film Oscars, is now in its 9th year and to some the best kept secret Cardiff has, opens on Wednesday 7 October.
As the organisers prepare for the 10th anniversary in 2016, they are determined that the 2015 festival will also make a mark! Taking place at the same time as the Rugby World Cup, the festival’s opening night film is a documentary called Scrum, which follows the trials and tribulations of three men competing during the Bingham Cup – the gay rugby world cup.
The fresh new slogan adopted by the festival team dictates “Watch films. Party nightly. Repeat.” - this is possibly why the festival is popular with both film makers and members of the public, with attendances last year hitting 7,000.
“Access to the film makers is a big part of the Iris appeal,” Festival Director Berwyn Rowlands feels.
“We have an access all areas policy, which basically means members of the public have easy access to the talent attending the festival. The VIP area is shared by everyone – because we don’t have one – every part of the festival is VIP and open to the public,” he added.
2015 is proving to be another popular year for attracting talent to Cardiff, with film makers attending from all over the world. These are just some of the film makers who will introducing their films at screenings in Cardiff:
Baggage, Dir: Sarah Ball (UK) - pictured
Bunker, Dir: Vibeke Heide (Norway)
Chance, Dir: Jake Graf (UK)
Charlie, Dir: Shawn Ryan (USA) - pictured above
Charlie, Prod: John Ainsworth (USA) - pictured above
Closets, Dir: Lloyd Eyre-Morgan (UK)
Daniel, Dir: Dean Loxton (UK)
An Afternoon (En Eftermiddag), Dir: Soren Green (Denmark)
Hora, Dir: Yoav Brill (Israel)
Intrinsic Moral Evil, Dir: Harm Weistra (The Netherlands)
Mirrors, Dir: Neil Ely (UK)
Quixotic Player, Dir: Jay Bedwani (UK)
Roxanne, Dir: Paul Frankl (UK)
Showboy, Dir: Samuel Leighton-Dore (Australia) - pictured
Sundar, Dir: Rohan Kanawade (India)
Sundar, Crew: Vikrant Pednekar (India)
Thirst, Dir: Guy Sahaf (Israel)
No Strings, Dir: Eoin Maher (Ireland)
Paper Thin, Dir: Nataly Lebouleux (UK)
Morning is Broken, Dir: Simon Anderson (UK)
Morning is Broken, Prod: James Walker (UK)
Want it, Dir: Lee Haven Jones (UK) 
