Tarneit wins £30,000 Iris Prize Award at LGBTQ Film Festival

The winners of the Iris Prize LGBTQ Film Festival have been announced at a special awards ceremony in Cardiff, Wales.

Tarneit, directed by John Sheedy, took home the prestigious £30,000 Iris Prize award, supported by the Michael Bishop Foundation, on Saturday (15 October) coming from a shortlist of 36 international short films.

The £30,000 prize enables the winners of the Iris Prize to make a new short film in Wales.

A synopsis for Tarneit reads: “Tyrone lives with his mother and her boyfriend Pommy, a lowlife drug dealer who despises immigrants and homosexuals. Tyrone’s best friend Clinton, a refugee, lives with his older brother Shaker, who also has similarly firm ideas about race and sex. Despite these obstacles, the boys share a bond, both deaf, both neglected by family, and each dreaming of escaping from the brutal violence that surrounds them.”

Director John Sheedy was unable to attend the awards ceremony on Saturday but was told of his win ahead of time by festival director, Berwyn Rowlands.

Bård Ydén, who chaired the jury deciding the Iris Prize winner said of Tarneit: “The quality of the films in competition is as high as it is diverse, and we’ve been on an emotional rollercoaster throughout the selection process – which is exactly where we want films to take us.

“A number of films stood out, however, and in particular, Tarneit. It touched us in numerous ways, through exceptional storytelling and performances. This is a multi-layered film that will stay with you and we can’t wait to see what the filmmaker will present us with in the future.

As well as picking a winner, the Iris Prize jury selected three films from the 36 to be highly commended.

They are (in no particular order)      
Tank Fairy, directed by Erich Rettstadt 雷利 (Taiwan)
Kapemahu, directed by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, Daniel Sousa (Animation Director) (USA)
A Wild Patience Has Taken Me Here, directed by Érica Sarmet (Brazil)

Bård added: “The highly commended films were films we loved for different reasons, and it was important for us to highlight diversity in representation, storytelling, and craft – all three are impressive and unique films that deserve to be mentioned.”

Meanwhile, Queer Parivaar, directed by Shiva Raichandani, won the Iris Prize Best British Short category, supported by Film4 and Pinewood Studios.

Raichandani will receive a package of services sponsored by Pinewood Studios Group and all of the nominated films in this category are eligible for BAFTA consideration and can automatically be entered by the filmmakers.   

Tim Highsted, from Channel 4, and the Chair of the Iris Prize Best British Short jury, said: “This year’s British shorts at Iris once again reveal an array of talented filmmakers – from the joyful and warm winning short, Queer Parivaar, directed by Shiva Raichandani – through to all the films that were shortlisted.”

The highly commended films are (in no particular order) 
A Fox in the Night, directed by Keeran Anwar Blessie
Nant, directed by Tom Chetwode Barton
The Rev, directed by Fabia Martin

Tim also confirmed that Film4’s support for the Iris Prize and the Best British Short will continue for a further three years.

The winners of the 2022 Iris Prize Awards are:

Iris Prize
Tarneit

Best British Short
Queer Parivaar

Best Performance Awards, supported by Out and Proud
Best Performance in a Female Role: Claudia Jolly – for the role of ‘Lydia Willis’ in Tommies
Best Performance in a Male Role: Gary Fannin – for the role of ‘Jim’ in Jim

Iris Prize Best Feature Award, sponsored by Bad Wolf
Metamorphosis, Jose Enrique Tiglao, (Philippines)

Iris Prize Best Performance in a Male Role, sponsored by Attitude Magazine
Giancarlo Commare as Antonio in Mascarpone

Iris Prize Best Performance in a Female Role sponsored by DIVA Magazine
Lacey Oake as Izzy in Before I Change My Mind

Iris Prize Best Performance in a role Beyond the Binary, sponsored by Peccadillo Pictures
Gold Azeron as Adam in Metamorphosis

The Youth Award
Breathe, directed by Harm van der Sanden (Netherlands)

The Community Awards, sponsored by Mark Williams in memory of Rose Taylor
Community Short: Want/Need, directed by Niamh Buckland
Education Short: The Bed, directed by Thalia Kent-Egan
Micro short: Hold Me Close Please, directed by Max Roberts

Tom Abell, the Chair of the Iris Prize, said: “I would like to congratulate Berwyn and the whole Iris team on this outstanding 16^th edition of The Iris Prize.  We are so pleased to have been able to welcome national and international filmmakers back to Cardiff to celebrate queer filmmaking in all its colours, bringing to Wales and the rest of the UK the very best in short film making and queer creativity.  

“I would also like to thank the juries for their careful thoughts, discussions, and lively conversations that have delivered this year’s winners including the first-ever award for a role that goes beyond the binary. As always Iris leads the way.”

Berwyn Rowlands, the Iris Prize Film Festival Director added: “There was a great energy about the festival this year, which was helped by having the international filmmaking community return to Cardiff, the perfect host city.

“The films were warmly received by our audience and the winners are proving to be a popular choice. Although the in-person festival has come to an end our UK audience can still enjoy the online programme till the end of October.”

Iris Prize will return next year from Tuesday 10 October – Sunday 15 October 2023, and online until the end of October.

Full details about Iris Prize and this year’s winners can be found here.