Guests include Russell T Davies and Fawzia Mirza
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY SHUT UP & COLOUR PICTURES
The countdown for the world’s largest LGBTQIA short film prize has begun! Beginning on 10 October, the Iris Prize will showcase some of the most talented queer filmmakers in the industry over the week-long celebration. This year’s programme includes 50 short films, 12 feature films, and talks from industry professionals.
Guests at this year’s Iris Prize include Queer As Folk’s Russell T Davies, Heartstopper director Euros Lyn, and Fawzia Mirza whose film The Queen of My Dreams will be showing at this year’s festival.
Berwyn Rowlands, Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival Director, said: “There is always some apprehension mixed with excitement when we go live with the full Iris programme. This year we have a fabulous mix of LGBTQIA stories to share; our audience is in for a week of emotions as we watch films, talk about films, and much more.”
He continued: “If I was forced to choose one highlight it would have to be Chuck Chuck Baby. The last time I was this excited was after seeing Muriel’s Wedding at a festival almost 30 years ago. Directed by Janis Pugh, the film is a feel-good movie set in a chicken factory in north Wales. It will make you cry; it will make you laugh, and it will probably get you dancing in your seat. And if Northern Lights by Renaissance doesn’t re-enter the charts on its release, I will eat my hat!”
This year’s festival boasts 12 fantastic feature films from the USA, Germany, Norway, Belgium/France, Israel, the UK, Canada, and Austria/Germany. Titles such as The Queen Of My Dreams (Fawzia Mirza), Chuck, Chuck Baby (Janis Pugh), and Our Son (Bill Oliver) are among the lineup.
The box office for Iris Members opens today with general sales on 19 September.
Full details about the Iris Prize can be found here: www.irisprize.org
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