two teenagers stand on an old chest of drawers in an empty field.

Cardiff-based LGBTQ+ Film Festival unveils the 36 international shorts competing for the £30,000 Iris Prize

Organisers of the Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival are delighted to announce the shortlist of 36 films competing for the prestigious Iris Prize for the best international short film.

This year, the festival returns in person from 11 – 16 October.  The box office opens on 16 September, with full festival passes, day tickets, and weekend tickets available.
 
The shortlist of international filmmakers competing for the £30,000 Iris Prize International Short Film Competition supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation is unveiled today. This year’s shortlist features films from 18 different countries, including three from the UK and three from Ireland.
 
Iris Prize has 25 partner festivals who nominated 21 of the shortlisted films, with the remainder chosen by a pre-selection jury. The shortlisted films are presented in nine separate programmes, with stories ranging from coming-of-age teenage tales, to horror comedies, through a journey encompassing designer babies, and the moving stories of people looking for love and companionship in the autumn of their lives.  
 
Berwyn Rowlands, Iris Prize Film Festival Director, said: ‘We are pleased to unveil our fantastic shortlist of the best of the best in LGBTQ+ filmmaking. We have filmmakers from 18 countries, representing full diversity, actively engaging across the LGBTQ+ community. The uniting factor in all 36 films is an exhilarating celebration of lives of LGBTQ+ people across the world.
 
‘It is especially poignant to be welcoming our domestic and international filmmakers and guests back to Cardiff, for the first in person, since 2019. We hope you come to enjoy a festival of film and also take part in the ‘fringe events’ such as the first Iris gig at the legendary Cardiff venues, Clwb Ifor Bach and the other nightly parties during the week.’   

Iris Prize 2022 International Shorts

Sponsored by The Michael Bishop Foundation

  • Tarneit | Dir. John Sheedy | Australia 
  • Muhafiz (The Protector) | Dir. Pradipta Ray | India 
  • Enlightened | Dir. Nina Bouchaud-Cheva | France
  • Breathe | Dir. Harm van der Sanden | Netherlands 
  • Fervor | Dir. José Manuel Vélez – USA 
  • Beautiful They | Dir. Cloudy Rhodes | Australia 
  • Tank Fairy | Dir. Erich Rettstadt | Taiwan 
  • This is Katherine | Dir. Ida H. Eldøen | Norway 
  • Thot or Not | Dir. Dylan Glynn | Canada 
  • Chaperone | Dir. Sam Max | USA 
  • Les démons de Dorothy (Dorothy’s Demons) | Dir. Alexis Langlois | France 
  • St Jude | Dir. Pauline Quinonero | Italy/France 
  • CANS Can’t Stand | Dir. Matt Nadel & Megan Plotka | USA 
  • Peach Paradise | Dir. Shiva Raichandani | UK/US 
  • Lugar Nenhum (Nowhere) | Dir. Pedro Gonçalves Ribeiro | Portugal
  • Lana Kaiser | Dir. Philipp Gufler | Germany / Netherlands 
  • Write Here | Dir. Jake Muñoz Consing | Philippines 
  • Grown in Darkness | Dir. Devin Shears | Canada 
  • A Wild Patience Has Taken Me Here (Uma Paciência Selvagem me Trouxe Até Aqui) | Dir. Érica Sarmet | Brazil 
  • Hornbeam | Dir. Mark Pluck | UK 
  • Blue Eyes (Blaue Augen) | Dir. Alexander Weber | Austria 
  • Successful Thawing of Mr Moro | Dir. Jerry Carlsson | Sweden 
  • Static Space | Dir. Kate Black Spence and John Klein | USA  
  • Science Around Us | Dir. Arif Abdillah | Netherlands 
  • Oisin | Dir. Alba Fernandez | Ireland 
  • Lambing | Dir. Katie McNeice | Ireland 
  • Forgiveness Day | Dir. Derek Ho | USA 
  • How Not to Date While Trans | Dir. Nyala Moon | USA 
  • Perennial | Dir. Naomi Cubero | USA 
  • What is a Woman? (Hva er en kvinne?) | Dir. Marin Håskjold | Norway
  • Kapemahu | Dir. Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, Daniel Sousa (Animation Director) | USA
  • Brutal | Dir. Sam McConnell | USA 
  • Ripples | Dir. Yael Nudelman | Israel 
  • First Date | Dir. Clara Planalles | Ireland 
  • Night Ride | Dir. Erik Tveiten | Norway 
  • Tommies | Dir. Brian Fairbairn | UK