We’re delighted to be sponsoring this year’s Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation, a six-day celebration of LGBTQ+ storytelling.
The aim of the festival is to share LGBTQ+ stories with as wide an audience as possible - to amplify the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people; challenge discrimination on the grounds of sexuality; and promote the benefits of an equitable and diverse society.
Iris currently attracts 12,000 admission over the six-days. The International and British competitions are 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.
There are two main prizes: the Iris Prize best international short film - the world’s largest prize for a short film - giving the winner a £30,000 grant to make a new LGBTQ+ short film in Wales; and the Best of British Short sponsored by Film4 and Pinewood Studios. Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival is the largest film festival in Wales and the second largest LGBTQ+ Film festival in the UK and award the largest short film prize in the world.
Over the six days, Iris will screen 55 new shorts from around the world, together with 12 feature films and a programme of talks and industry-specific panels. Guests at this year’s festival include the award-winning Russell T Davies (Queer as Folk, Doctor Who, It’s A Sin), Heartstopper director and son of Cardiff, Euros Lyn, the acclaimed director Fawzia Mirza (Kam Kardashian, Brown Girl Problems and The Queen of My Dreams showing at this year’s festival), as well as many filmmakers who are representing their films in competition, in person.