Submissions open for Iris Community, Education and Micro Short Awards 2020

Organisers of The Iris Prize Community, Education and Micro Shorts Awards have announced that they will be accepting entries for the first time from across the border in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The awards, now in their 4^th year, celebrate excellence in LGBT+ storytelling by community groups and young people. The submissions process is now open, and schools, youth groups, community groups and individuals have until 20 December 2019 to get their submissions in. The selection process is then handed over to a group of independent judges who will choose the shortlist for the grand final in January 2020. The organisers also confirmed a new category has been introduced for the 2020 Awards. The Iris Prize Micro Awards will be presented to work which is 1 minute or less in duration and related to or of interest to LGBT+ audiences.   Andrew Pierce, Iris Prize Chair, commented: “Most people know about Iris as the largest LGBT+ short film prize in the world at £30,000 with our illustrious alumni like Dee Rees securing an Oscar nomination and Magnus Mork winning an award at Sundance! Quietly and diligently we’ve also been developing a reputation for our outreach work in Wales working with schools and community groups. For the past 3 years we’ve been celebrating this work with an annual award show in North Wales.” “I’m delighted that we’ve decided to open up the awards in 2020 to represent the exciting LGBT+ work being produced by schools, community groups and individuals across the UK.” Mark Williams, Education & Outreach Manager at Iris, commented: “I’m thrilled that we are able to open up the awards to cover the whole of the UK. I’m also thrilled that through my consultancy company Equiversal, I’m able to sponsor the cash awards for each category in memory of my sister, Rose Taylor who passed away earlier this year.” The sponsorship from Equiversal in memory of Rose Taylor will see the winners receiving an award to help them make further films. The Iris Prize Education Award winner receive £250, the Iris Prize Community Award will receive £250 and the Iris Prize Micro Award will receive £100. If you represent a school, youth group, community group or an individual creating LGBT+ relevant content, visit the Iris Prize website where you will find all the terms and conditions. The shortlisted entries in all the categories will have their work shown on a big screen as part of the 2020 Iris on the Move UK tour in Cineworld, Llandudno Junction on Friday 24 January 2020.