The Iris Prize is an international LGBTQ film prize and festival open to films 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. It was established in 2007 by Berwyn Rowlands.
The prize is open to filmmakers from around the world and judged by a panel of international filmmakers and artists. The winner receives a prize package valued at £30,000, enabling the winner to make their next film. It is awarded during an annual festival held in Cardiff that presents a programme of screenings including the competing films and several feature films, panel sessions with visiting filmmakers, and a closing night award ceremony. [1]
The Iris Prize has secured the support of lesbian and gay film festivals from around the world, creating an international platform with the intention of raising the profile of lesbian and gay cinema and helping a new generation of filmmakers achieve success on the international stage. Each of the partner festivals selects one film annually to participate in the Iris Prize. The partner festivals include LGBTQ+film festivals in Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Dublin, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Hong Kong, and Rochester, New York. [2]
The journalist Andrew Pierce became the first chair of the Iris Prize in 2013. [3] Tom Abell, managing director of Peccadillo Pictures succeeded Pierce as chair in 2021. [4]
In 2015 Iris Prize Outreach, a charity set up to challenge discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, was awarded funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to undertake an ambitious programme of community engagement across Wales over three years. A second project was awarded funding in 2020 and expected to see ten new short films made. [5]
Each of the partner festivals listed below will select one film that will be automatically shortlisted for the Iris Prize.
