Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: Provided (depicts Glitter Cymru, who worked on the original Iris in the Community Lottery-funded project)
The Iris Prize has secured £195,330 from The National Lottery Community Fund.
The LGBTQ film festival, which takes place annually in Cardiff, will use the money to launch a three-year, Wales-wide project working with community groups to discuss issues faced by LGBTQ people
Building on a previous and similar community project, Iris and the selected groups will work on films addressing issues faced by the queer community. The films will be available to watch online once completed.
“We have been inundated!”
Berwyn Rowlands, Festival Director, commented: “Without this funding from The National Lottery Community Fund we would not be able to run this project. We have been inundated by community groups across Wales asking if we could work with them, today we can confirm, with a very big yes!
“2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the repeal of one of the most controversial pieces of legislation to impact on the lives of LGBTI+ people in the UK: Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988.
“This is a fabulous opportunity for our community groups to take stock and reflect on where we are today as LGBT+ people. The fact that we will have 10 films produced at the end of this project is an added bonus. Film continues to be a very democratic way for people to share their ideas and to reach new audiences. Our community groups will I’m sure benefit from this amazing experience.”
Community groups who are interested in discovering more should visit www.irisprize.org/community where they can complete a form to express an interest.
Derek Preston-Hughes, Funding Manager at The National Lottery Community Fund said: “We are delighted to be able to support The Iris Prize with this project. They have already played an incredible role in addressing issues faced by the LGBT+ community over the years, and it’s great that they can now build on this, thanks to National Lottery players. Projects such as this are making a huge difference to people’s lives and to communities across Wales.
This year’s Iris fest takes place from 5-10 October 2021.
It was recently announced that Iris was lending its support to next month’s 48-hour short film challenge called HER FFILM FER, with the winner’s film being broadcast at the festival.
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