Pic: Sunflower (Australia, 2023)
The 18th internationally acclaimed LGBTQ+ Iris Prize Film Festival kicks off this week in Cardiff but you, like me, will have the chance to catch some of its best bits online.
The festival runs 8-12 October, and alongside its full-length feature films, there are many engaging shorts to enjoy if you buy a £10 online pass.
There are nine groups of shorts, and some bonuses, and you can see them at home on your screen until the end of the month.
Among the nine collections I picked out:
The Past Into Focus: a search for a grandmother’s lost lover, returning to your childhood town after loss, and confronting the person who made your school life miserable all feature in this package.
Roots features short films about: a history of writing religious romance, being trans in a secluded farming community – looking at links between the past and the present that shape you and your choices.
Happy In Your Own Skin features movies on conversion therapy, navigating cultural expectations with a sex worker, and emerging into your new self- different journeys of accepting yourself.
Take A Chance On Me features stories about an emotional catch-up phone call, a new business venture, a rocky road trip: all films that explore the line between being friends and the desire for something deeper.
Dangerous Liaisons features a story of an actor and a cowboy, two trans women who cross paths, a journalist facing the wrath of the internet and an old cellist.
Lived Trans Lives explores gender and togetherness.
Resilience covers lesbian island rebellion, a woman in crisis and an emotional reunion.
Forbidden Fruit deals with films about a young girl discovering herself through dance, an animated journey through transition, how to deal with dates and a light-hearted exploration of bodies.
Online passes and further film information at irisprize.org.