The Iris Prize LGBT+ film festival is returning to Wales. Hosted in Cardiff, the Iris Prize offers filmmakers the chance for one filmmaker to win a £30,000 prize. Carefully selected through a long vetting process, the final 36 entrants from filmmakers around the world will now be screened in Premiere Cinema in the capital.
The festival comprises a six-day celebration of LGBT+ film which takes place annually. This year marks the 16th year of the festival's running and a massive change to just 1,500 admissions back in the debut year of 2007. Today, the festival attracts more than 11,000 admissions world-wide and an online audience of more than 84,000.
As Wales' capital prepares to host the largest gathering of LGBT+ filmmakers who've made the trip from all over the globe, the 16th Iris Prize's opening night promises to bring the best of local Welsh filmmaking. On the opening night alone set to take place on Tuesday the 11 of October, six short films are set to be played to an eager audience. Even better news, four of the six films were created by women, including work by director Sarah Smith who won the Iris Prize back in 2019.
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With the box office of the event opening on September 16, the festival is set to run from October 11 to 16. Films from 18 countries around the world made the cut to form the final 36 short films. Three films from the UK and three from Ireland made the final short list and the festival will be welcoming back attendees to the event in Cardiff after previous events were held online due to the Covid-19 pandemic's restrictions.
The shortlisted films are presented in nine separate programs, with stories ranging from coming-of-age teenage tales, to horror comedies, designer babies, and the moving stories of people looking for love and companionship in the later years of people's lives.
Berwyn Rowlands, Iris Prize Film Festival Director said: "We are pleased to unveil our fantastic shortlist of the best of the best in LGBTQ+ filmmaking. We have filmmakers from 18 countries, representing full diversity, actively engaging across the LGBTQ+ community. The uniting factor in all 36 films is an exhilarating celebration of lives of LGBTQ+ people across the world.
"It is especially poignant to be welcoming our domestic and international filmmakers and guests back to Cardiff, for the first in person, since 2019. We hope you come to enjoy a festival of film and also take part in the ‘fringe events’ such as the first Iris gig at the legendary Cardiff venues, Clwb Ifor Bach and the other nightly parties during the week."
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