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Pinewood Studios Group confirm prize worth £14,000 for new LGBT short film award

Jury of 5 to be chaired by Judith Noble from Arts University Bournemouth

English football fans in the 90’s, passion and desire between two women in a sleepy English coastal village and a new member of staff in a Scottish call centre for the deaf who gets embroiled in a lovers tiff are just some of the stories tackled by the finalists for a new LGBT short film award.

Organisers of the Iris Prize, supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation have today (18/07/2014) announced the directors of 10 short films who will be competing for the inaugural Iris Prize Best British Short.

The winner of the Iris Prize Best British Short will be announced on Sunday 12 October 2014 during the Iris Prize Festival in Cardiff. The winner will receive a post-production package to help with the making of their next film, comprising of sound mixing, sound track lay and dub plus layback. The package is worth an amazing £14,000 and is sponsored by Pinewood Studios Group.

“British films have always been well received at the Iris Prize Film Festival and we are delighted to be screening 10 of the best British LGBT shorts this year. I’m delighted that Pinewood Studios has agreed to sponsor this important prize, they represent everything which makes the British Film Industry the envy of the world,” said Festival Chair Andrew Pierce.

The films will be judged by a five strong independent jury chaired by Judith Noble who is a senior lecturer in Film Production at the Arts University Bournemouth. The full jury is:

• Judith Noble – Senior Lecturer in Film Production at the Arts University Bournemouth
• Andrew Leitch – Lead officer on LGBT equalities within Creative Scotland
• Lowri Haf Cooke – Arts critic and blogger
• Robert Gershinson – Director and photographer, Co-founder of Queer As Film
• Victoria Ashfield – Cross discipline composer

“I’m pleased Judith has agreed to chair the jury for us in this our inaugural year for this new award. I’m aware she is very busy especially with her forthcoming work on Kenneth Anger and Derek Jarman.  Judith has been working in the film industry for many years including a period as Head of Production for Sgrin in Wales so I hope she enjoys her return visit to Cardiff,” added Andrew Pierce.

The 10 film competing for the 2014 Iris Prize Best British Short are:

• Brace – dir:  Sophy Holland, Alicya Eyo
• Butterfly – dir:  Stuart McLaughlin
• Holly Thursday (The Last Supper) – dir: Antony Hickling
• Middle Man – dir: Charlie Francis
• Playing The Game – dir: Jeremy Timings
• Remission – dir: Christopher Brown
• Siren – dir: Louise Marie Cooke
• Vis a Vis – dir: Dan Connolly
• Wannabe – dir: Marco Calabrese
• We are Fine – dir: Simon Savory

Background:

The 2014 Iris Prize Festival will present 6 main awards:

1. The Iris Prize – Cardiff’s International gay and lesbian short film prize supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation is valued at £25,000 and remains the only short film prize in the world which allows the winner to make a new film.
2. Iris Prize Best British Short sponsored by Pinewood Studios Group and valued at £14,000 will be presented for the first time in 2014.
3. Iris Prize Best Feature Award valued at £1,000 is sponsored by Martin Brigs and presented to the best new feature screened at the festival.
4. Best Actor in a Feature
5. Best Actress in a Feature
6. Iris Prize Youth Jury Award sponsored by Cardiff University and presented to one of the short films as selected by a jury of 10 between the ages of 14 and 17.

Important Dates:

• The shortlist of 30 short films competing for the Iris Prize will be announced on Monday 11 August 2013.
• The full Iris Prize Festival programme will go live on Tuesday 26 August 2014.
• The Box Office will open on Monday 8 September 2014. (Members Priority Booking opens Wednesday 27 August – through Sunday 7 September).
• The festival takes place in Cardiff and opens on Wednesday 8 – Sunday 12 October 2014.