Our annual Cardiff based film festival with 25 partners in 20 countries is one of the biggest celebrations of LGBTQ+ film in the UK. We are a BAFTA-qualifying queer film festival and home of the prestigious Iris Prize £30,000 film award – the world’s largest short film prize. The 16th edition will open on Tuesday 11 through to Sunday 16 October 2022 with most screenings taking place in Premiere Cinemas. Festival Passes are on sale now and the full Box Office opens on Friday 16 September.

As Cardiff begins to prepare to host the biggest gathering of LGBTQ+ filmmakers, the 16th Iris Prize Film Festival’s Opening Night brings you the best of Welsh filmmaking, with six new short films being premiered on the Opening Night on Tuesday 11 October at 7pm.

Angharad Mair from S4C’s primetime magazine programme returns as host for the evening, along with special guests and filmmakers from around the world. This is the moment during the festival when Wales shouts loud and proud to the world – look what we are, and here are our stories.

The international celebration of diversity and visibility of the LGBTQ+ community begins at 7pm with the UK premiere of six short films made in Wales, four of which were created by women:

-Cardiff, directed by Sarah Smith (winner of the 2019 Iris Prize)
-Blooming, directed by Efa Blosse Mason and Sophie Marsh
-I Shall be Whiter than Snow, directed by Frederick Stacey
-Queens Cwm Rag, directed by Lindsay Walker
-Sally Leapt Out Of A Window Last Night, directed by Tracy Spottiswoode
-G Flat, directed by Peter Darney

Opening is a night of two halves as guests leave Premiere Cinemas and take a few steps to the Capitol Shopping Centre which is transformed for the night into party central when guest will be entertained by festival partners the Co-op and offered a chance to taste some amazing food created by David Llewellyn from the Co-op’s Delicious Food Team.