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Iris Prize Announce 2024 Community/Education/Micro Short Award Winners

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The organisers of the Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival – celebrating global stories and Cardiff charm are pleased to announce the winners of the Community, Education and Micro Short Awards, sponsored by Mark Williams in memory of Rose Taylor. The awards were presented on Wednesday 9 October 2024.

And the winners are:

Community Award
Three Letters | La mamma morta directed by Michael Graham WALES

“Brilliant storytelling, I loved the Cardiff context, powerful poetry, and excellent inclusion of community members.” – Charlotte Amoss

“The marriage of music, poetry and visuals were just gorgeous, and I couldn’t not be moved! I loved the shots of Cardiff and recognising influential people such as Lisa Power, etc. It did give me a slight feeling of educational campaign but that made me love it more as my experience of adverts around HIV and Aids were the horrific 80’s TV ads. This felt like a reclamation of strength, identify, power and queer joy. Stunning!” – Abbie Vimpany

Education Award
Forbidden Reverie 宿祭 directed by Yisong Huang

Micro Short Award
Façade directed by Sophia Vi

“This film was beautiful, the juxtaposition of the brutal imagery of surgery and the words of Shakespeare delivered so perfectly. It felt like a clever commentary on the pain of growth and living your dreams. It was very powerful piece” – Charlotte Amoss

“Very emotional 1 min 44 secs for how she got the message across using Shakespeare” – Rhys Edwards

“Incredibly powerful. I actually watched it twice as the impact of surgery photos for me was really strong but partnered together perfectly to tell an emotional story. On second viewing I focused on the words and the delivery and I’m still thinking about this piece two weeks later” – Abbie Vimpany

The jury for the Community, Education, and Micro Shorts Awards included Abbie Vimpany, Rhys Edwards, and Charlotte Amoss from Transport for Wales. This is a positive reminder of Iris Prize’s on-going relationship with Transport for Wales as we have our Pink Portraits 2024 back in Iris HQ and in Cardiff Central Station for the duration of the festival.

The jury made a powerful statement of thanks to Iris Prize: “We all really appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this incredible event and the partnership. It was a real honour to watch everybody’s work that was short listed. They were all wonderful and we had a very hard job selecting our winners. We are thankful that Iris Prize exists and gives space and celebrates LGBTQ+ artists and stories. They matter.”

Mark Williams, who sponsors these awards in memory of his sister Rose Taylor, said: “LGBTQ+ creativity needs to be supported, and I’m delighted to do this by supporting these awards in memory of my sister Rose. I’m sure she would be as amazed as I am at the strong and varied submissions this year. Congratulations to everyone who made a film in these categories!”

Berwyn Rowlands, Festival Director added: “The community, education, and micro shorts awards are an opportunity to celebrate excellence in LGBTQ+ storytelling by community groups and young people. These films are made by people new to filmmaking and experienced artists alike. We have no-budget and low-budget films, and with the micro shorts, it is always amazing to see what you can do in a minute! This year we received entries from across the UK and I wish all the winners a big llongyfarchiadau.”

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