35 films compete for £30,000 Iris Prize, the world’s largest LGBT short film prize supported by the Michael Bishop Foundation
17 countries represented including first time entry from Taiwan
Horror tales reveal the darker side of LGBT imagination
Filmmakers tackle the taboo of confronting issues of ageing
The horror of nightmares and growing old dominate the themes of this year’s short list of films that are competing for the prestigious Iris Prize in its tenth anniversary year. Supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation, the organisers of Cardiff’s International LGBT Short Film Prize have today announced the 35 films competing for the £30,000 prize, which continues to be the world’s largest international LGBT short film prize. Twenty-five have been nominated by the respective number of partner festivals with 10 chosen by a pre-selection jury from a record number of over 300 films entered through open submissions.
Filmmakers from Russia, UK, Australia create darkly compelling stories rooted in the horror genre reflecting the wider interest in fantasy enjoyed by the LGBT community. Equally, a sobering number of this year’s entries address the concerns for growing old and the emotional dilemmas that we face with ageing. This year’s selection explores LGBT stories from all corners of the globe including Sweden, Italy, Ireland, Spain, India, US, Canada, and for the first time, Taiwan.
The most number of entries come from US with 8 films represented, followed by Australia with 4 films and Canada with 3 films. The UK is one of six countries with two films in competition alongside Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Italy and Brazil.
Fittingly in this anniversary year, there are a number of Iris alumni who have been nominees in previous years and are now returning with their latest project.
Andrew Pierce, Iris Prize Chair, says “With the shortlist for this year’s Iris Prize now announced, I am thrilled by the high standard of entries for this 10th anniversary year. Having been involved in the festival since its inception, I have been delighted to see not only the number of films being submitted increasing year on year but also the quality of the film-making itself. We get to see wide world view of the LGBT community with submissions from countries as diverse as USA, Australia, Sweden, Italy and India.
“Furthermore”, he continues, “I am delighted that the number of partner festivals continues to expand, with five more now nominating a film for the shortlist. This is a testament to the growing reputation of the festival on the global stage and how prestigious the Iris Prize has now become”.
The films will screen during this year’s Iris Prize Festival which takes place from October 12th - 16th in Cardiff, Wales, (UK). The winner of the Iris Prize will be announced on Sunday 16 October 2016 during the Iris Awards hosted by Amy Lamé.
This year’s shortlisted films in alphabetical order are:
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 | Dir: 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 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.
Further details of Iris Prize - www.irisprize.org
Facebook: Iris PrizeFestival twitter: @irisprize
