Iris Prize calls for applications for prestigious storytelling workshops
Organisers of the world’s largest LGBTQ+ short film festival have announced a brand-new training initiative to help develop excellence in storytelling with moving image.
If you’ve never made a film before but might have had ‘that’ story in your head for a while, are a filmmaker in need of encouragement to tell more stories or just want to try something new - The Iris Guide to Storytelling is for you!
The Cardiff-based Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival is excited to call for applications for the new in-person Guide to Storytelling workshop series, supported by Duck Soup and Screen Alliance Wales. The workshops will begin on 15 April and take place every Saturday for six weeks, except for 6 May. They will take place at Iris HQ in the centre of Cardiff.
The Iris Guide to Storytelling workshop series is an introduction for anybody over 18 who is interested in understanding more about excellence in storytelling. During the workshops you will learn new practical skills and gain valuable advice about how to take stories to the next step on screen.
Berwyn Rowlands, Iris Prize Film Festival Director said: “In our day-to-day work with the Iris Prize, we have access to so much film talent and specifically storytellers. What we’ve done with this new workshop series is to bring together experts we know and produce a six-week structure which allows us to offer this amazing opportunity for future storytellers.
“Our vision has been welcomed by Screen Alliance Wales and Duck Soup, who are supporting this inaugural workshop series. Potential applicants have until Monday 3 April at 11am to register their interest. The first workshop takes place on Saturday 15 April in Cardiff.”
The workshops will be delivered by Team Iris who have 35 years’ worth of experience alongside our industry friends, Iris Prize winners, and film makers from across the UK, including Darius Shu, producer of Queer Parivaar (winner of the Iris Prize Best British Award 2022); Thomas McDonald, producer of Jim (winner of the Iris Prize Co-op Audience Award 2022); Dr Mena Fombo; Angela Clarke; and Bethan Evans.
During the workshops you will get to watch films, talk about the films and understand more about excellence in storytelling. Each Saturday will focus on one of the following themes:
- Authentic Casting / Representation – 15 April
- Documentaries – 22 April
- Script to Screen – 29 April
- Queer Youth - 13 May
- Making films in Wales / locations – 20 May
- Dramatizing True Stories – 27 May
The 2023 Iris Podcast with Damian Kerlin will be recorded during the workshop series and will explore the above themes in more detail. Guests taking part in the podcast will include Iris Prize Best of British film makers from 2022 who will screen their short film and discuss the good and bad memories of getting them made, focusing on storytelling.
Speakers on the podcast include the workshop leaders and speakers, in addition to members of the team behind Lost Boys and Fairies created, written and executive produced by Daf James. Lost Boys and Fairies is Daf’s first original screenplay for the BBC and filming starts this April. Daf developed the project with Duck Soup as part of BBC Writersroom’s TV Drama Writers’ Programme 2019.