Iris Prize Festival 2007
4 - 6 Oct 2007The inaugural Iris Prize Festival took place from October 2nd – 4th in Cardiff, and was devised and organised by The Festivals Company Limited.
The event was born out of the creation of The Iris Prize, an international gay and lesbian short film prize created to recognise, celebrate and promote gay and lesbian moving image content. The winner would receive the largest prize for a gay and lesbian short film in the world - valued at £25,000 – to make their next short film in the UK with the support of Barcud Derwen and the UK post production sector.
Linking with a number of vibrant and supportive partner festivals in New York, London, Sydney, Hong Kong, and San Francisco to name but a few, the prize received entries from gay and lesbian filmmakers from all around the world. "We realised early on that Iris was a truly international project which would challenge our ability as a Company to deliver such a unique and complex event." said Festival Founder Berwyn Rowlands.
Each partner festival chose one film to go straight into the shortlist of 30, leaving a pre-selection jury to select around twenty films from hundreds of entries. All of the 30 shortlisted entrants were then invited to attend the inaugural Iris Prize event which took 
place in Chapter, Cineworld and other venues around Cardiff in early October. As well as screenings of the shortlisted films, the festival programme also included feature films (including a number of European and UK premieres), masterclasses, panel sessions, parties and receptions.
Over half of the nominated filmmakers attended the festival (pictured, above), with filmmakers coming from as far as the Bahamas, Canada, America, and Germany, and closer to home, England and Wales. Thanks to the Friends of Iris scheme, all of the filmmakers were offered free accommodation and were invited to numerous networking lunches, parties and receptions, where they could meet other visiting filmmakers such as International Jury members Christopher Racster, Jaymes Thompson and Brent Gorski.
The winner of The Iris Prize was announced during a closing night award ceremony where Private Life by film-maker Abbé Robinson (pictured left, with Lisa Gornick) was awarded best British Film. However, the main prize was given to the American filmmaker Dee Rees for her film Pariah, about a lesbian teenager who unsuccessfully juggles multiple identities to avoid rejection from her friends and family. Announcing the winner at the awards show at Cardiff’s Cineworld, Frances Hendron, Jury Chair said: "This film was impactful. It is a personal story told in a universal manner. The film maker displays excellent film making skills from the direction of the actors, the integral music sound track and a natural control of its subject."
The judges also commended four films: For the Love of God by British film-maker Joe Tucker, Peace Talk by Swedish director Jennifer Malmqvist, Hello, My Name is Herman by Canadian Karine Silverwoman and Le Weekend by Timothy Smith.
After the award ceremony all of the festival audience, filmmakers, jury members and friends of Iris, were entertained with live music and fine wines in the Cineworld Bar until the early hours of the morning, bringing to a close a very successful event, which lead jury member Andrew Pierce (Assistant Editor of The Daily Telegraph) to state that Iris would undoubtedly become a major event in the cultural, and L&G, calendar.
"We've demonstrated during this inaugural festival that Iris has many friends located throughout the world. Film makers who joined Iris in Cardiff came from the Bahamas, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Berlin, Paris and London. I can confirm that plans are underway for the 2008 event when we will once again welcome the global film making community to Wales," said Berwyn Rowlands, as Iris left the building.
