Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival

Event Info

The 17^th Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival takes place Tuesday 10 – Sunday 15 October 2023 in Cardiff. This year’s programme includes more than 50 short films, 12 feature films, talks from film industry professionals and the spectacular opening night and glamorous Awards Show – along with an exciting gig held at Cardiff’s newest queer space, Enby’s, in Wharton Street, Cardiff.

Guests at this year’s festival include the award-winning Russell T Davies (Queer as Folk, Doctor Who, It’s A Sin), Heartstopper director and son of Cardiff, Euros Lyn, the unstoppable Fawzia Mirza (Kam Kardashian, Brown Girl Problems and The Queen of My Dreams showing at this year’s festival), as well as many filmmakers who are representing their films in competition, in person.  Cardiff will be buzzing with talent for Iris Week.

Berwyn Rowlands, Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival Director, said: “There is always some apprehension mixed with the excitement when we go live with the full Iris programme. This year we have a fabulous mix of LGBTQ+ stories to share; our audience are in for a week of emotions as we watch films, talk about films, and much more.

“2023 feels like a very special year for Iris as we welcome people back to the cinema. Making sure you have a fabulous programme is important if we are going to be successful. It is quite unusual for us to get all the feature films we wanted – but this year we did, and we’ve ended up with 12 and not the 10 we had originally planned.

“If I was forced to choose one highlight it would have to be Chuck Chuck Baby. The last time I was this excited was after seeing Muriel’s Wedding at a festival almost 30 years ago. Directed by Janis Pugh, the film is a feel-good movie set in a chicken factory in north Wales. It will make you cry; it will make you laugh, and it will probably get you dancing in your seat. And if Northern Lights by Renaissance doesn’t re-enter the charts on its release, I will eat my hat!”