The Iris Prize Festival, the organisers of the Cardiff based international LGBT short film festival, has released its shortlist of candidates competing for the 2016 Iris Prize, with a prize of £30,000 for the winner. This year, along with being its tenth anniversary, will be the largest ever in terms of competitors. Also, there are five more festivals participating in the nomination process for the shortlist, and over 300 directors have presented their short films for the Iris Prize. 25 films have been nominated by the partner festivals and 10 have been selected by a pre-selection jury.
The final film list of nominees contains 35 short films from around the world, from Spain, Hong Kong, and India, to Canada and the USA. This year, the stories have been focused on issues related to ageing and the taboos associated with this natural process.
The USA has the largest representation with eight films on the list. Following that, Australia has four films competing for the prize and Canada has three. The countries with two films entered in the competition are the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Ireland and Brazil.
Some of the Iris alumni are also returning to introduce their latest projects.
Andrew Pierce, the Iris Prize Chair, highlights “the high standard of entries for this 10th anniversary year” and says he is “delighted to see not only the number of films being submitted increasing year on year but also the quality of the film-making itself”. Pierce, who has been involved in the Iris Prize since its emergence, says that the reputation of the prestigious festival continues to grow.
The 2016 Iris Prize Festival will run from Wed 12 – Sun 16 Oct in venues across Cardiff. The winner of the Iris Prize will be announced the last day of the festival, during the Iris Awards hosted by Amy Lamé.
The 35 films are as follows:
09:55 – 11:05, Ingrid Ekman, Bergsgatan 4B – Dir: Cristine Berglund & Sophie Vukovic Country: Sweden
A Doll’s Eyes – Dir: Jonathan Wysocki Country: USA
B. – Dir: Kai Stänicke Country: Germany
Balcony – Dir: Toby Fell-Holden Country: UK
Between Us – Dir: Daithí Ó Cinnéide Country: Ireland
Buddy – Dir: Niels Bourgonje Country: The Netherlands
Cecil + Carl – Dir: Elvis León & Gaston Yvorra Country: USA
Choke Hold – Dir: Robert Gray Country: Canada
Dawn – Dir: Jake Graf Country: UK
Great Escape – Dir: Sal Bardo Country: USA
How To be Alone – Dir: Erez Eisenstein Country: Israel
I Don’t Believe in That – Dir: Neil Fennell Country: USA
Il Manichino – Dir: Renato Muro Country: Italy
Kaspar X: If I Had a Soul – Dir: Kaspar Wan Country: Hong Kong
Last Vestiges – Dir: Seth Poulin Country: Canada
Letargo Dir: Xavier Miralles Country: Spain
Like a Butterfly (Wie Ein Schmetterling) – Dir: Sabrina Maria Roessel Country: Germany
Little Boy Blue – Dir: Nathan Keene Country: Australia
Little Doll – Dir: Kate Dolan Country: Ireland
Nineteen – Dir: Madeline Kelly Country: Australia
Pink Boy – Dir: Eric Rockey Country: USA
Push Me – Dir: Tove Pils Country: Sweden
Pytor495 – Dir: Blake Mawson Country: Canada
Sign – Dir: Andrew Keenan-Bolger Country: USA
Submarine (Submarino) – Dir: Rafael Aidar Country: Brasil
Sunday Lunch (Le Repas Dominical) – Dir: Céline Devaux Country: France
Thanks for Dancing (Takk for Turen) – Dir: Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken Country: Norway
The Den (La Tana) – Dir: Lorenzo Caproni Country: Italy
The Last Day Before Zanzibar (O Ultimo Dia Antes de Zanzibar) – Dir: Filipe Matzembacher & Mario Reolon Country: Brazil
The Summer of ABC Burns – Dir: Dannika Horvat Country: Australia
Tonight It’s You – Dir: Dominic Haxton Country: USA
The Threshold – Dir: Nishant Roy Bombarde Country: India
Vamonos – Dir: Marvin Lemus Country: USA
You Deserve Everything – Dir: Goran Stolevski Country: Australia
Yu and Rachel (《他好吗?) – Dir: Wu Ji’en Country: Taiwan
The 15 films competing for the Best British Prize are:
Ariel (2016) – directed by Macéo Bhardwaj
Acceptance (2106) – directed by Justin Groves
Balcony (2015) – directed by Toby Fell-Holden
Crossroad (2016) – directed by Leon Lopez
Dawn (2016) – directed by Jake Graf
G O’Clock (2015) – directed by Mitch Marion
High Heels Are Compulsary (2015) – directed by Annabel Cooper
Oh-Be-Joyful (2015) – directed by Susan Jacobson
Parting (2016) – directed by Dimitris Toulias
Queen’s Mile (2016) – directed by Martin Delaney
Sauna The Dead (2016) – directed by Tom Frederic
Souls (2016) – directed by Daniel Gage
Spilt Milk (2016) – directed by James Dunstan
Take Your Partners (2015) – directed by Siri Rødnes
The Carer (2106) – directed by Christine Parker
The Iris Prize Festival, various venues across Cardiff, Wed 12 – Sun 16 Oct. Tickets: prices vary per event. Info: website, Twitter, Facebook.
The main festival sponsors are: The Michael Bishop Foundation, Welsh Government, BFI, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Pinewood Studios Group, Cardiff University, Gorilla Group, Cineworld, Chapter, Gay Star News, Pride Cymru.
words PALOMA PRIETO