A diamond in Cardiff’s cultural crown since its debut in 2007 and a known quantity worldwide for LGBTQ+ indie film followers, this month sees the Iris Prize return for six more days of screenings, prizegiving and parties. Mr Iris himself, festival director Berwyn Rowlands, pens us an introductory guide to the festivities before Iris team member Lynne Reynolds picks out some highlights from the 2024 programme.
As we prepare to welcome filmmakers from all over the world to Cardiff for the 18th edition of the Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival, some will be about to experience Cardiff for the first time. Many, on the other hand, are returning for their annual week of celebrating global LGBTQ+ stories, and for them that Iris magic is an integral part of the city’s charm.
However, there’s a lot about Iris that might come as a surprise, even to locals. Did you know that 30% of our audience are not part of the LGBTQ+ communities, identifying as straight but simply enjoying taking in a film, meeting filmmakers and hitting parties? Iris is a public-facing festival, so you can buy a day, weekend or full-week pass – but you can also choose just one film to watch. Best make sure it’s a good one…
Earlier this year, somebody mentioned to me how much they enjoyed 2023’s opening night – adding that they didn’t recognise most of the 300+ audience at the party. And that’s because we now attract people from all over the UK and beyond to enjoy Iris. Our annual survey suggests that 50% of our audience is new to the festival: some of these will be filmmakers, which we’re very proud to shout about. At Iris you get to see films, but there’s a strong chance you’ll also get to meet the filmmakers involved at the screenings.

Iris is much more than the world’s largest short film prize, it is also a celebration of feature films, and we have 13 this year. I’m thrilled to welcome 2013 Iris award winner Tim Despina Marshall back to Cardiff with his new dark feature film In The Room Where He Waits. Tim will also be joined by fellow Australian film maker Gabriel Carrubba, whose feature Sunflower stars Liam Mollica in the working-class Melbourne-based coming of age drama. Liam has been nominated for a performance award, will be hoping to take away the award for Best Actor In A Male Role.
Also returning to Cardiff is Sarah Rotella from Canada with her new romcom Last ExMas. Sarah’s last screening at Iris, Almost Adults in 2016, proved to be the most popular lesbian feature in the history of Iris. Tim, Gabriel, Liam and Sarah will be attending the screenings to introduce their films – and possibly singing karaoke at the Golden Cross.
Most of the screenings, talks and parties take place at Vue Cinema in Stadium Plaza, and on our closing Sunday we have a ‘Best Of’ programme in Chapter to complement the Best Of festival screenings at Vue.
Iris on Iris – the IRIS PRIZE team’s pick of the week’s films
As Iris makes her fabulous return to Cardiff, this year she will be greeted by not one, but two superheroes flying high above the streets of the capital city, albeit on our banners on Wood Street or on the ground, on our special festival mugs. These are the two stars on the cover of our 2024 English programme: Tom Paul Martin’s Where Are All The Gay Superheroes? will screen on our opening night of Tue 8 Oct.
The Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival is special because we offer the largest prize in the world for a short film – £30,000, to be used to make another short film in Wales – and also because you can be sure to meet up with filmmakers, actors, and industry specialists from across the globe over the festival’s six days. This isn’t something that happens when you attend a mainstream cinema showing, or certainly not by watching streamed box sets and films at home.

Highlights this year include more than 60 short films, with one film from Wales making the cut in both categories; 13 stunning feature films, including Greer Ralston – Giving It All To Art, made in Wales by Rachel Dax, an intimate portrait of figurative artist Greer Ralston; the annual Iris Gig, headlined by Girlband! from Nottingham with London solo artist Jason Kwan supporting; plus eight Iris Talks, the always-anticipated opening night, and the fabulous awards show.
Iris opens in earnest on the afternoon of Tue 8 when we welcome Kate Herron to the stage for an exclusive Q&A session. From Marvel’s Loki to Doctor Who, Sex Education and Five By Five, Kate has made an indelible mark on our watch history – a writer-director, working across film, television and comic books, she’s captured global audiences with her storytelling. With an upcoming episode of The Last Of Us still on the horizon, you won’t want to miss this!
Amongst the 60 short films in the international Iris Prize and Best British shortlist, three very different films have caught our eye at Iris HQ. The first is Boys In The Water, directed by France’s Pawel Thomas Larue from the international shortlist. It is the end of summer on the Breton coast, and Oscar invites his group of friends to spend a week’s vacation at his grandparents’ house. He hasn’t been back to his childhood home for years – not since he came out as a trans boy. On the beach, the gang meets Malo, a handsome local guy who is also trans. The story is about their meeting, which will turn everything upside down.
Then we have in the Best British shortlist, Sally Leapt Out Of A Window Last Night, by Welsh director Tracy Spottiswoode. Set in Ireland, in the year 1778, Sally and Eleanor flout convention and scandalise society to escape the fate their families have planned for them. They elope. This film is inspired by the true story of Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, widely known as the Ladies of Llangollen.

And finally, we come to a Welsh film that is on both the international and Best British shortlist: Peter Darney’s G Flat. This striking film, starring Richard Wilson, tells the story of an 84-year-old stroke survivor who, one evening, when his carers’ have left him for the night, sends for a sex worker leading to an unexpected climax.
So come to Iris this year and maybe you will get to meet your own superhero – albeit one with their feet firmly on the ground! – at the festival’s HQ, which is in Stadium Plaza on Cardiff’s Wood Street.
Iris Prize, Vue Cinema, Cardiff (also available to stream online), Tue 8-Sun 13 Oct.
Tickets: £140 full pass/£90 weekend/£10 full online pass; day passes and individual film tickets available. Info: irisprize.org
words BERWYN ROWLANDS / LYNNE REYNOLDS
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