The shortlist of films competing for the international Iris prize has been announced, with 35 shorts in contention.
Cardiff's International LGBT short film prize, which is now in its 10th year, carries a prize of £30,000. Twenty-five of the contenders have been nominated by partner festivals, with 10 chosen by a pre-selection jury from a record number of more than 300 films entered through open submissions.
Filmmakers from Russia, UK, 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 the concerns for growing old and the emotional dilemmas that we face with ageing.
Iris prize chair Andrew Pierce said: “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 film-making 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."
The films will screen during this year’s Iris Prize Festival which takes place from October 12- 16 in Cardiff. The winner will be announced on Sunday 16 October 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, Sweden
A Doll’s Eyes Dir: Jonathan Wysocki, US
B. Dir: Kai Stänicke, Germany
Balcony Dir: Toby Fell-Holden, UK
Between Us Dir: Daithí Ó Cinnéide, Ireland
Buddy Dir: Niels Bourgonje, The Netherlands
Cecil + Carl Dir: Elvis León, US
Choke Hold Dir: Robert Gray, Canada
Dawn Dir: Jake Graf, UK
Great Escape Dir: Sal Bardo, US
How To be Alone Dir: Erez Eisenstein, Israel
I Don’t Believe in That Dir: Neil Fennell, US
Il Manichino Dir: Renato Muro, Italy
Kaspar X: If I Had a Soul Dir: Kaspar Wan, Hong Kong
Last Vestiges Dir: Seth Poulin, Canada
Letargo Dir: Xavier Miralles, Spain
Like A Butterfly (Wie Ein Schmetterling) Dir: Sabrina Maria Roessel, Germany
Little Boy Blue Dir: Nathan Keene, Australia
Little Doll Dir: Kate Dolan, Ireland
Nineteen Dir: Madeline Kelly, Australia
Pink Boy Dir: Eric Rockey, US
Push MeM Dir: Tove Pils, Sweden
Pytor495 Dir: Blake Mawson, Canada
Sign Dir: Andrew Keenan-Bolger, US
Submarine (Submarino) Dir: Rafael Aidar, Brazil
Sunday Lunch (Le Repas Dominical) Dir: Céline Devaux, France
Thanks For Dancing (Takk for Turen) Dir: Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken, Norway
The Den (La Tana) Dir: Lorenzo Caproni, Italy
The Last Day Before Zanzibar (O Ultimo Dia Antes de Zanzibar) Dir: Filipe Matzembacher & Mario Reolon, Brazil
The Summer Of ABC Burns Dir: Dannika Horvat, Australia
Tonight It’s YouDir: Dominic Haxton, US
The Threshold Dir: Nishant Roy Bombarde, India
Vamonos Dir: Marvin Lemus, US
You Deserve Everything Dir: Goran Stolevski, Australia
Yu and Rachel Dir: Wu Ji’en, Taiwan
