Iris Prize Announces Its LGBT Short Film Prize Shortlist

It’s only a couple of months until the annual Iris Prize Festival in Cardiff, which includes the £30,000 International LGBT Short Film Prize, supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation, which continues to be the world’s largest international LGBT short film prize. The 35 shorts competing this year have now been announced, which includes the largest number of international films competing in the prize’s 10-year history, with 17 countries represented, including for the first time Taiwan

25 have been nominated by a 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 and 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 concerns about 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 Taiwan.

The highest number of entries come from US, with 8 films represented, followed by Australia with 6 films and Canada with 3 films. The UK is one of six countries with two films in competition (although Iris Prize does have a separate UK LGBT Short Film Prize) alongside Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Italy and Brazil.

Fittingly in this 10th 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, comments, “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 filmmaking 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. The winner of the Iris Prize will be announced on Sunday October 16th, 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
• – 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 & 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