Iris Prize

For awards with similar names, see Iris Award (disambiguation).

The Iris Prize, established in 2007 (18 years ago) (2007) by Berwyn Rowlands of The Festivals Company, is an international LGBTQ film prize and festival which is open to any film which is by, for, about or of interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex audiences and which must have been completed within two years of the prize deadline.

The prize is open to filmmakers from around the world and judged by a panel of international filmmakers and artists. The winner receives the largest prize for a gay and lesbian film in the world—a package valued at £30,000—allowing the winner to make their next film. It is awarded during an annual festival held in Cardiff that presents a programme of screenings including the competing films, several feature films, panel sessions with visiting filmmakers and culminates in a closing night award ceremony.[1]

The Iris Prize has secured the support of lesbian and gay film festivals from around the world, creating a single international platform with the intention of raising the profile of lesbian and gay cinema and helping a new generation of filmmakers achieve success on the international stage. Each of the partner festivals selects one film annually to participate in the Iris Prize. The partner festivals include LGBTQ+film festivals in Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Dublin, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Hong Kong, and Rochester, New York.[2]

The journalist Andrew Pierce became the first chair of the Iris Prize in 2013.[3] Tom Abell, managing director of Peccadillo Pictures succeeded Pierce as chair in 2021.[4]

In 2015 Iris Prize Outreach - the charity set up to challenge discrimination against LGBTQ+ people - was awarded funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to undertake an ambitious programme of community engagement across Wales over three years. A second project was awarded funding in 2020 and is expected to see ten new short films made.[5]

Iris Prize Winners

  • 2007 - Pariah by Dee Rees (USA)
  • 2008 - Cowboy by Till Kleinert (Germany)
  • 2009 - Steam by Eldar Rapaport (USA)
  • 2010 - The Samaritan by Magnus Mork (Norway)
  • 2011 - I Don't Want to Go Back Alone by Daniel Ribeiro (Brazil)
  • 2012 - The Wilding by Grant Scicluna (Australia)
  • 2013 - Gorilla by Tim Marshall (Australia)
  • 2014 - All God's Creatures by Brendan McDonall (Australia)
  • 2015 - Vessels by Arkasha Stevenson (USA)
  • 2016 - Balcony by Toby Fell-Holden (UK)
  • 2017 - Mother Knows Best by Mikael Bundsen (Sweden)
  • 2018 - Three Centimetres by Lara Zeidan (Lebanon/UK)
  • 2019 - Black Hat by Sarah Smith (USA)[6]
  • 2020 - Short Calf Muscle by Victoria Warmerdam (Netherlands)[7]
  • 2021 - Baba by Adam Ali and Sam Arbor (UK)[8]
  • 2022 - Tarneit by John Sheedy (Australia)[9]
  • 2023 - Scaring Women at Night by Karimah Zakia Issa (Canada)[10]
  • 2024 - Blood Like Water by Dima Hamdan (Palestine)[11]

Best British Short Winners

  • 2007 - Private Life by Abbe Robinson
  • 2008 - James by Connor Clements
  • 2009 - Diana by Aleem Khan
  • 2010 - Mosa by Ana Moreno
  • 2011 - The Red Bike by Andrew Steggall
  • 2012 - A Stable for Disabled Horses by Fabio Youniss
  • 2013 - My Mother by Jay Bedwani
  • 2014 - Middle Man by Charlie Francis
  • 2015 - Closets by Lloyd Eyre-Morgan
  • 2016 - Balcony by Toby Fell-Holden
  • 2017 - We Love Moses by Dionne Edwards
  • 2018 - BEYOND (There's Always a Black Issue, Dear) by Claire Lawrie
  • 2019 - My Brother is a Mermaid by Alfie Dale
  • 2020 - Better by Michael J Ferns [12]
  • 2021 - Baba by Adam Ali and Sam Arbor[8]
  • 2022 - Queer Parivaar by Shiva Raichandani[9]
  • 2023 - F**ked by Sara Harrak
  • 2024 - Sister Wives by Louisa Connolly-Burnham

Iris Prize Best Feature Award Winners

Best Performance in a Male Role (Feature Films)

Best Performance in a Male Role (Best British Shorts)

  • 2022 - Gary Fannin, Jim[9]
  • 2023 - Emma D'Arcy, The Talent
  • 2024 - Richard Wilson, G Flat and Dennis Grindel, Fairview Park

Best Performance in a Female Role (Feature Films)

Best Performance in a Female Role (Best British Shorts)

Best Performance Beyond the Binary (Feature Films)

  • 2022 - Gold Azeron, Metamorphosis[9]
  • 2023 - Bishop Black, Captain Faggotron Saves the Universe[15]

Best Performance Beyond the Binary (Best British Shorts)

  • 2023 - Son of a Tutu, Lemon[15]
  • 2024 - Ashley Goa, Divine Intervention

Youth Jury Award

  • 2013 – Straight With You, Daan Bol (Netherlands)
  • 2014 – Bombshell, Erin Sanger (USA)
  • 2015 – Closets, Lloyd Eyre-Morgan (UK)
  • 2016 – Sign, Andrew Keenan-Bolger (USA)
  • 2017 – Lily, Graham Cantwell (Ireland)
  • 2018 – Mrs McCutcheon, John Sheedy (Australia)
  • 2019 – My Brother is a Mermaid, Alfie Dale (UK)
  • 2020 - Wings, Jamie Weston (UK)
  • 2021 - S.A.M., Neil Ely and Lloyd Eyre Morgan (UK)
  • 2022 - Breathe, Harm van der Sanden (Netherlands)[9]
  • 2023 - Realness With A Twist, Cass Kaur Virdee (UK)[15]
  • 2024 - Jia, Vee Shi

Diva Box Office Award

  • 2019 – Greta, Sparkman Clark (USA)

Co-op Audience Award

  • 2020 - Wings by Jamie Weston[16]
  • 2021 - Birthday Boy by Leo Lebeau & James Bell
  • 2022 - Jim by Tom Young
  • 2023 - Ted & Noel by Julia Alcamo[17]

Community Awards

  • 2022, Community Short: Want/Need, Niamh Buckland[9]
  • 2022, Education Short: The Bed, Thalia Kent-Egan[9]
  • 2022, Micro short: Hold Me Close Please, Max Roberts[9]
  • 2023, Community Short: Where's Danny, Amy Pennington
  • 2023, Education Short: The Fight in the Dog, Pamela Jikiemi
  • 2023, Micro short: Trickle-Down Economics, Sophie Ansell

List of partner festivals

Each of the partner festivals listed below will select one film that will be automatically shortlisted for the Iris Prize.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Festival". www.bafta.org. 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  2. ^ "5 NEW PARTNERS FOR IRIS' 10th ANNIVERSARY - Iris Prize". Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  3. ^ "Andrew Pierce Confirmed as Chair | News". www.thefestivalscompany.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-05-23.
  4. ^ EDITOR (2021-10-22). "Tom Abell announced as new chair of LGBT+ film festival Iris Prize". divamag.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  5. ^ "Iris Prize Outreach Limited - Organisation | The National Lottery Community Fund". www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  6. ^ "Jewish film wins Welsh LGBT+ film prize". BBC News. 2019-10-13. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  7. ^ "Film: Welsh filmmakers shortlisted for Iris Prize". BBC News. 2020-10-10. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  8. ^ a b "Iris Prize 2021: Baba wins both £30,000 main prize and Best British award". Attitude.co.uk. 2021-10-10. Retrieved 2022-04-08.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Alastair James, "Tarneit wins £30,000 Iris Prize Award at LGBTQ Film Festival". Attitude, 16 October 2022.
  10. ^ a b "2023 Iris Prize winners announced – the 'Oscars' of the LGBTQ+ short film world".
  11. ^ Nick Horton, "Palestinian woman wins £30,000 LGBTQ+ film award". BBC, October 12, 2024.
  12. ^ "IRIS PRIZE ANNOUNCES 2020 WINNERS". Iris Prize. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  13. ^ "Film4 - a pivotal moment for Iris Prize | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  14. ^ a b EDITOR (2021-10-12). "DIVA supports The Iris Prize 2021 in Cardiff, with wins from Rebel Dykes and Senan Kara". divamag.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  15. ^ a b c d James, Alastair (2023-10-14). "Iris Prize: Scaring Women at Night takes top prize at LGBTQ+ Film Festival". Attitude. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  16. ^ "SCREEN: Wings announced as the winner of the Iris Prize Audience Award". DIVA. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  17. ^ Fox, Dale (2023-11-08). "Ted & Noel: Film highlighting homophobic care home abuse wins Iris Prize award". Attitude. Retrieved 2024-07-22.