HAT-TRICK for the Iris Prize Festival – named one of the Top 50 Film Festivals in the world for third year!
The Iris Prize Festival team are celebrating their hat-trick having been recognised as one of the top 50 film festivals in the world worth paying the entry fee by Movie Maker Magazine for the third year. The annual list is produced by the world’s most widely read independent film magazine and is an indication of how useful a film festival is for film makers.
- HAT-TRICK for the Iris Prize Film Festival - named one of the Top 50 Film Festivals in the world for third year!
- “This is wonderful news for the Iris Prize, and without being too biased well deserved too.”
- Movie Maker Magazine - the world’s most widely read independent film magazine
“This is wonderful news for the Iris Prize, and without being too biased well deserved too. We’ve never taken for granted the relationship between Iris and the film makers and I think this is at the heart of this recognition from Movie Maker. We know how difficult it is to make a film; developing the script, casting, locations and the funding! Therefore, we look after film makers who come to our festival in Cardiff each October by offering them accommodation, food, VIP passes and access to companies who might want to buy their films,” said Andrew Pierce, Festival Chair.
“We are committed as a festival to sharing LGBT stories with our growing audience who enjoy meeting the film makers as much as they do watching the films. This year we have a few ideas about enhancing even further the relationship between the visiting filmmakers and our audience as we introduce “On the sofa with Iris” a series of intimate interviews between Iris and the visiting film makers,” he added.
“Compiling the list this year, we stuck to much of our tried-and-tested methodology (elements we continue to look for include press opportunities, networking occasions, industry attendance, high-quality workshops and panels, strong alumni services, etc.), but with a couple of twists. For one, we dug a little deeper into acceptance statistics this year, looking for festivals that prioritize submissions.
“We also conducted an online reader survey this year to hear more about what you want in your festival experience. The lesson? That more than anything—more than free plane tickets and booze! - you want your films to forge a genuine connection with audiences who are truly engaged. Well, we can confidently say that that will happen at these festivals,” said, Kelly Leow, Movie Maker Magazine.
“Thanks to the generous support of The Michael Bishop Foundation, the Iris Prize continues to be the only LGBT short film prize valued at £30,000, which allows the winner to make a new film. I’m very proud of our track record in supporting new talent, having worked with film makers from all over the world and look forward to working with Toby Fell-Holden the first British winner who will be responsible for the 9th short film,” said Festival Director Berwyn Rowlands.
Submissions are still open for the 2017 Iris Prize Festival and will close on Friday 25th June 2017. Details about submitting films can be found here:
http://www.irisprize.org/the-festival/submissions/
The full list published by Movie Maker Magazine is available
HERE!
The main festival sponsors are: The Michael Bishop Foundation, Welsh Government, BFI, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Pinewood Studios Group, Cardiff University, Gorilla Group, Cineworld, Pride Cymru, British Council Wales, Orchard, and Bafta Cymru.
