It’s just under a month until the Iris Prize kicks off in Cardiff, Wales. To give us a taste of what to expect, trailers have arrived giving us a look at some of the films that are up for the main Iris Prize for LGBT shorts, as well as those up for best British sport.
The trailers reveal both the 35 international short films competing for this year’s prestigious £30,000 prize as well as the 15 short films nominated for the Iris Prize Best of British Award. The festival which is celebrating its tenth anniversary takes place in Cardiff and runs 12th – 16th October.
Supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation, the Iris Prize, Cardiff’s International LGBT Short Film Prize continues to be the world’s largest international LGBT short film prize. Twenty-five of the 35 films 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.
The accompanying musical soundtrack is by Singapore-based Welsh teenager, These Brittle Bones (Chris Jones)
This year’s selection explores LGBT stories from all corners of the globe including many stories that address the concerns of growing old and explore darker themes from the horror genre, Sweden, Italy, Russia, Australia, Ireland, Spain, India, US, Canada, and for the first time, Taiwan.
In addition, 15 short films are competing for the Iris Prize Best British Short, worth £20,000 and sponsored by Pinewood Studios Group. These have been selected from a record number of over 100 submissions from all areas of the UK and they take us from teenage years to old age, encountering bullies, drug abuse, lifelong love, random acts of kindness and zombies.
Take a look at the trailer below. You can find out a bit more about the films that are competing by clicking here. [Read more…]
The Ways Of Man is based around an intriguing idea, looking at a Bibilical character through modern eyes. In this case the man who ‘betrayed’ Jesus, Judas Iscariot.
Synopsis: ‘Sixteen-year old Antonio, a typically handsome basketball player, Blu a head strong and sexually confident woman, and new kid Lorenzo an openly gay fashionista and huge Lady Gaga fan form the sort of intimate bond only teenagers can- forming a protective shield for each other from their fellow classmates and home dramas. But with barely containable hormones constantly bubbling to the surface, complications inevitably arise between the best of friends, eventually creating a circumstance none could predict.
Synopsis: ‘Kim, Bella and Momo, three bullied teenaage girls are going through the throes of finding themselves. Surrounded by a dark world of teenage violence, marginalization and sexual confusion, the girls have only each other.
Synopsis: ‘In his directorial debut, young NYC-based filmmaker Alden Peters documents his own coming-out experience, capturing everything on-camera as he plans and boldly captures his disclosures to friends, family, and society. Inspired by social media coming out videos by teens around the world, COMING OUT places viewers directly inside the raw, intimate moments when Alden reveals his true identity to his family and friends, ranging from the painfully awkward to the hilariously honest.
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