Making Friends with Iris

Iris stepped out of her virtual world for her first public outing as The Festivals Company hosted the first ever Friends of Iris event on Thursday evening (7^th June 2007) in Cardiff Bay.

Berwyn Rowlands and James Nee invited friends, supporters and denizens of the Welsh capital to an informal drinks reception to introduce them to the new lady in their lives: Iris. The Iris Prize is the largest gay and lesbian short prize in the world – valued at £25,000 – and will be awarded during a three day event held in Cardiff in early October.

As the sun set in Cardiff Bay, Berwyn Rowlands – founder of the prize – outlined The Festivals Company’s plans and aspirations for the inaugural Iris Prize event in October. "Iris has already secured International support through the growing number of Partner Festivals. However for the event in October to be a truly memorable occasion Iris will need to secure local support. A large part of the event’s success will be dependent on the level of support it receives from the local community and this is where the Friends of Iris comes in. As part of the Friends of Iris scheme, we’re asking friends and supporters to offer a room – ideally, one that contains a bed – to one of the thirty short listed filmmakers who will be making the journey to Cardiff in October"

"If Thursday evening is anything to go by, then it doesn’t look like Iris will struggle to find people who are willing to support and embrace her. Many of the friends unable to offer a room were only too happy to offer support in other ways. Iris gained many ambassadors dedicated to spreading the word on Thursday night. It was great fun."

In return for becoming a Friend of Iris, The Festivals Company is offering VIP tickets to the Iris Prize Award Ceremony on Saturday 6^th October 2007, complementary tickets to all screenings of the 30 short films competing for the Iris Prize and invites to future Friends of Iris events. And don’t worry if you missed Thursday night, you can still become a Friend of Iris by sending an email to james@irisprize.org.

The next Friends of Iris event will be held on August 31^st – venue tbc.

Many thanks to Mike Ahmed for hosting Thursday evening at the Spice Merchant.