Balcony directed by filmmaker Toby Fell-Holden has been announced winner of the Iris Prize 2016, Cardiff’s International LGBT Short Film Prize, supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation.
This is the first time in its 10 years of existence that a UK filmmaker has won. The £30,000 prize will allow Toby to make a new short film in Wales, becoming the ninth Iris production. The film was part of Film London’s ‘London Calling Plus’ scheme.
Cheryl Dunye, the Chair of the jury said, “The conversations among the jury have been about what makes a film aesthetically and technically accomplished whilst being queer at the same time. We have looked at the creative decisions a director makes in pre-production, casting, cinematographically, and in editing”.
Of Balcony, she said, "We felt that the director crafted a powerful film where not a single moment of its 17 minutes was wasted. The lead performance by Charlotte Beaumont was particularly outstanding as she took us on an internal transformation that left us speechless".
"The film explored a myriad of social justice issues not only relevant to LGBT filmmaking but also with those that intersect with race, class, and gender issues in both the UK and the world today".
Real Boy directed by Shaleece Haas is the winner of the Iris Prize Best Feature Award. The jury said, "The film that took the jurors on a journey filled with a real emotion was Real Boy".
