Best ever Hamlet

The International Jury for the Iris Prize has been announced by Iris Prize Patron Andrew Pierce. The Iris Prize, the world’s largest gay and lesbian short film prize, is part of the Iris Prize Festival which takes place from 2^nd – 4^th October 2008 at Cineworld and Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, Wales (UK).

"The International Jury, Chaired by Elan Closs Stephens a former Governor of the British Film Institute, is made up of a cross section of people at the top of their game. It includes the hugely talented Simon Russell Beale (pictured left) whose performance of Hamlet at The National Theatre in 2000 was voted the best ever by The Daily Telegraph. Who am I to disagree!" said Andrew Pierce, Assistant Editor, The Daily Telegraph and Iris Prize Patron.

"The jury also includes many of the directors and writers of the feature films we screen as part of the festival. The full list of jury members are: Elan Closs Stephens (Chair), Dee Rees (Iris Prize winner 2007), Simon Russell Beale (Actor, UK), David Pearce (Programmer, Australia), Gwion ap Rhisiart (Film reviewer, Wales), Johann Hari (Journalist, UK), Tom Abell (Distributor, UK), Lewis Tice (Distributor, US), Casper Andreas (Director, US), Yair Hochner (Director, Israel), Nia Dryhurst (Director, Wales), Jonah Blechman (Actor, US), Todd Stephens (Director, US)," he added.

"It is a great honour to have been invited to chair this year’s Iris Prize jury. It will be a privilege for us to see lesbian and gay film making at its best on the big screen," said Elan Closs Stephens, Professor of Communications and Creative Industries at Aberystwyth University’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television (pictured right).

"I’m also very excited at the make-up of the international jury, with people travelling from the USA, Australia and Israel. Together with the UK members, including Gwion and Nia from Wales, I am confident that we have an eclectic and diverse jury that will be able to identify the filmmaker who will make best use of this wonderful and unique prize," she added.

The jury will hand out three awards in 2008:

Iris Prize – the main award presented to the best short film. The film maker will be invited back to the UK to make a new short film.

Skillset Best UK Short – Sponsored by Skillset the winner of the best UK short will receive £1,000 to be used for training.

The Goleudy Travel Award – Sponsored by Goleudy, £500 cash presented to the winner of the 2008 Iris Prize winner to help them return to the UK to make their new short film.

The full list of jury members can be seen here.