Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival (13-19 Oct 2025)
Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival culminates with an award ceremony, announcing winners in 14 categories. The Iris Prize awards are decided by a jury of figures from the world of film and the LGBTQ+ community.
The main award, the Iris Prize, is supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation. The Iris Prize is the largest short film prize in the world, with the winner receiving £40,000 to make their next short film. The Iris Prize offers a very rare opportunity to develop a new LGBTQ+ short film, fully funded and benefiting from the best support, equipment, and crew the UK has to offer.
Through this process, the Iris Prize has seen the creation of twelve new short films, with the thirteenth and fourteenth currently in pre-production.
Find out more about submitting your film
The Iris Prize Awards & Prizes
The largest LGBTQ+ short film prize in the world with £40,000 to make your next LGBTQ+ short and an invitation to sit on the 2026 International Jury.
The winner will receive an exclusive screening of their film at Pinewood Studios and a welcome reception with drinks and canapes sponsored by Pinewood Group. They will also be invited to be part of the 2026 Iris Prize Best British Jury. All films in the Best British 2025 shortlist will be broadcast on Film4 and be streamed on Channel 4 for one year. A licence fee will be paid to all shortlisted Best British filmmakers. After the end of the Channel 4 window the Best British Short nominated films will be offered a non-exclusive second window on OUTTv‘s global platforms.
Other Awards:
- Best British Performance in Female Role in a British short – £250 cash to the performer, sponsored by Out & Proud
- Best British Performance in a Male Role in a British short – £250 cash to the performer, sponsored by Out & Proud.
- Best British Performance Beyond the Binary – £250 cash to the performer, sponsored by Out & Proud.
All of the Short Films in competition at Iris are eligible to win, and anyone with a ticket to see film (in-person or online) will have the chance to vote for it!
The film with most votes will be announced as winner after the online festival.
Best Feature Film Award:
- Iris Prize Best Feature Film Sponsored by Bad Wolf.
Performance Awards:
- Iris Prize Best Performance in a Male Role in a feature film sponsored by Attitude Magazine.
- Iris Prize Best Performance in a Female Role in a feature film sponsored by DIVA Magazine.
- Best Performance Beyond the Binary in a feature film, sponsored by Peccadillo Pictures.
The following three awards are sponsored by Mark Williams in memory of Rose Taylor.
- Community Award – £250 to enable the community group to make further films.
- Education Award – £250 to enable the school/youth group to make further films.
- Micro Short Award – £100 to enable the filmmaker/group to make further films.
Best Short film chosen by a jury of young people.
