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04-05 Eyeing Up Iris
2013 brings more international flavour to the highlights this year, fourteen countries are represented and Buzz gives you low down of the favourites
04-05 Jay Bedwani
Cardiffâs own Jay Bedwani a strong contender for the 25,000 prize money this year with his thought provoking film My Mother. A first nomination for a Welsh film maker.
06-07 Iris Prize Highlights
Buzz selects the anticipated highlights this year, including Burger The First Date and Cupcakes. Philip Wyn-Jones selects his choices for this year.
08 Iris Matrix
A quick glance reference guide to the times, dates and venues of all films, talks and events over the five days of festival madness
www.irisprize.org/membership/
Buzz is the leading monthly free entertainment and culture guide for Wales for the last 22 years
Eyeing Up Iris
Year on year, the Iris Prize brings inspiring and surprising films to the cinematic forefront â not just for South Wales but for those all over the world. Bethan Hunter discovers that 2013 looks just as promising.
South Wales isnât exactly known as a direct rival to Cannes. Glistening white beaches, Mediterranean climes and A-list tourists may not be evident around these parts, but what many Cardiff citizens are not aware of is that the two cities have more in common than it would first appear. For one week in October venues across the capital will play host to Iris, the worldâs biggest gay and lesbian short film festival. The international prize was established by the Festivals Company back in 2007, and has since been recognised as one of the worldâs most diverse and respected LGBT film awards.
Appropriately named after Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, the prize shortlists up to 30 cutting-edge short films from across the globe and offers both funding and support to the brains behind the winning entry. The short films submitted can cover any subject, so long as they have an LGBT-friendly core and a storyline that allows the movie to come in at a running time of under 40 minutes. Apart from those ground rules anything goes thematically, and previous award winners have centred on subjects as diverse as teen lust, illegal immigration and bloodthirsty rural communities.
The festival awards a grant of ÂŁ25,000 to the lucky winner, which has so far been instrumental in
producing four films that have gone on to pick up international approval left, right and centre. The competition is stiff â amateur hour this is not â and this year the ante has been upped even further. This yearâs shortlist was cherry-picked by the elite Iris panel of judges, and features films about unrealised dreams in small-town Alaska, risky shower-hopping and the appeal of the ginger man. Fourteen countries are represented at this yearâs festival, including entries from nations as disparate as Canada, Germany, India, the USA, Thailand and Brazil.
Though this yearâs shortlist is dominated by US entries, 2013 is also an exciting year for home-grown talent. For the first time, since the prizeâs inception, a Welsh candidate has made it through to the final. Cardiff-based filmmaker Jay Bedwani will no doubt be crossing his fingers for the success of his 10-minute documentary My Mother.
The excitement doesnât end there as this yearâs festival will open and close with two of 2013âs hottest tips.
Renowned Israeli director Eytan Fox will be kick-starting proceedings with a cheeky preview of his brand new feature, Cupcakes, which centres on a group of friends from Tel Aviv who somehow wind up representing their nation in a Eurovision-style music contest. Iris will come to a close with a one-off screening of Brit director Simon Savoryâs latest outing. Bruno and Earlene Go To Vegas is an unconventional road movie that follows a young woman and her intersex teenage companion as they travel across Nevada. The film has already received a glowing reception in the US and looks set to be a suitably moving curtain call for this emotionally charged festival. Despite its international reputation Iris has managed to retain a relatively low profile thus far, but given this yearâs crop itâs unlikely to be one of Cardiffâs best kept secrets for much longer. Grab your tickets while you can.
The Iris Prize, Wed 9-Sun 13 Oct, various Cardiff venues. Tickets: ÂŁ3.50-ÂŁ7.90. VIP passes which give access to all film screenings, talks and parties are available for ÂŁ50. Info: 029 2023 2744 / www.irisprize.org
Jay Bedwani IRISâS
Though itâs based in Cardiff, the Iris Prize is an internationally renowned film festival and 2013 brings about the involvement of 14 different countries â including the USA, Brazil, Israel and Australia. This October, six years after it began, the Iris Prize has nominated its first Welsh film-maker: Cardiff-born Jay Bedwani.
Though Jay has been split between South Wales and San Francisco, the location of his film My Mother which explores the life and relationships of transgendered woman Gustavo, his interest in art and documentary started at home in Cardiff.
âWhen was a kid I used to go for walks with my dad and weâd take photos of frogs. I guess thatâs when it really began,â he reminisces. After taking a short course in photography at Chapter Arts Centre, Jay went on to undertake a Masters in photography at Newport University.
âItâs unlikely to be one of Cardiffâs best kept secrets for much longerâ
Always fascinated by real-life stories and characters, Jay started to work on his own documentary photography and, whilst volunteering in San Francisco, was introduced to Gustavo by a mutual friend.
âHe was dressed as Donna. He was looking very glamorous, standing next to a pool at a party,â Bedwani explains. The two of them discussed taking some still pictures of Gustavo and his female alter-ego Donna, but soon after the project began it dawned on Jay that there was more to Gustavo than what simply met the eye.
âI didnât really know where it was going to go,â says Jay, âbut I very quickly realised that Gustavo had a lot to say. He was very eloquent, quite captivating, quite sincere and it seemed like what he had to say would make a really good film.â
âI wanted to find out what compelled him to dress up as Donna and go up to San Francisco every weekend. I soon realised it was a lot to do with the relationship he had with his family and his mother.â
Only 10 minutes long, the film itself creates a touching and thoughtprovoking portrait of an interesting an honest person. Beautifully shot, with a photographerâs eye, My Mother doesnât try and explain every aspect of Gustavoâs character and intentionally steers clear of an artificial ending. âDocumentary is really hard to pull off,â states Bedwani; âfilms sometimes try and go for a resolution and ending, when you know life isnât always like that. I like things left quite open.â
Having always had a love of film and documentary, Jay attended last yearâs Iris Prize Festival as an audience member and left feeling inspired.
âItâs quite rare you can get three days to sit in a theatre and watch films non-stop. watched all these short films and I loved it, so I put all my effort into doing this short film.â
Looking forward to this yearâs festival Jayâs eyes are on the screen rather than the prize. âIn a really egotistical way I canât wait to see it on the big screen,â he laughs.
âWinning the Iris Prize would really give me the freedom to do something completely different â to have the freedom really to invest in somethingâ Jay notes. âIâd love to do one in Wales.â
With a desire to pursue more documentaries with the âportrait of a characterâ feel that is present in My Mother, Bedwaniâs inclination to present a personality, rather than a subject, is one that could prove extremely interesting â especially with the variety of captivating characters across Wales for him to choose from. While youâre waiting for Jayâs next project, however, make sure you catch My Mother on the big screen next month for a heartwarming and slightly surreal insight into another personâs life.
Jay Bedwaniâs short film My Mother will be screened, along with four other nominated short films, at Chapter Arts Centre on Sat 12 Oct, 12.30pm
Below: Berwyn Rowlands, festival director; Oz Zehavi and Robert Fowler of Peccadillo Pictures
Andrew Pierce, festival patron and Oz Zehavi
Iris Prize: HIGHLIGHTS
Looking over the Iris Prizeâs feature film programme for 2013, James de Gruyther explores some of the highlights of this yearâs festival.
Burger
A film by returning 2012 Iris winner, Magnus Mork, who has crafted this lovingly made character study. Beautifully shot on location in Cardiff at a (yes youâve guessed it) burger bar, Morkâs Iris funded film revolves around the observation of an eclectic group of people who circle the surreal twilight world of the late-night burger bar. Be they gay, straight, single or married â itâs all focused on good old-fashioned character interaction. Being the product of the Iris Prize 2010 you can almost guarantee that Burger will be something special.
Vampire: Lucas Rising
What can I say about the sequel (or should I say SEXqual, get it?) to cult film and TV series Vampires: Brighter In Darkness? Is there anything more to say other than it is being touted as the âGay Twilight Sagaâ? Normally a comment like that would stand up on its own, but for the sake of artistic integrity Iâll go
cheese is what would have happen if Giles from Buffy
The Vampire Slayer and Edward Cullen of Twilight fame had a lovechild together, and kept it in a dark basement for 20 years feeding it only Haribo and Bizarre Magazine
Cupcakes (pictured below left)
This yearâs opening film Cupcakes looks to be a treat for both fans of film and cheesy Eurovision songs alike. This Israel-based feel-good movie revolves around a group of fed-up friends who, irked by the terrible entries for televised music competition Universong (see what they did there?) as a laugh decide to write their own song and enter the video for it, recorded on their phone, into next yearâs contest. Obviously, the video is a massive hit and against all odds becomes Israelâs competition entry. All in all, Cupcakes is a touching and heartfelt tale about a group of neighbours who love each other, with the promise of a good song.
The First Date
This quirky rom-com takes the formulaic ins and outs of past entries into the old genre and gives it new life, and not just because the two lovebirds involved are a lesbian couple. This piece from young filmmaker Janella Lacson perfectly captures the sweet awkwardness of new love which will be genuinely funny and touching to fans of the genre, and for anyone who has ever regretted hitting send on a text
message. Obviously many can relate and should watch this short film.
Barryâs
Bespoke Bakery (pictured
above)
This lovingly crafted short film by Irish director Denis McArdle is the surreal and charmingly represented tale of the titular Barry, a prim and proper baker, and his relationship with his talented but messy employee Brian. Beautiful from start to finish, the short was filmed in a painstakingly recreated bakery, with hundreds of individual cakes both donated from local bakeries and created especially for the film by five-star pastry chef Paul Kelly. Shot with a dream-like haze which is reminiscent of the more lucid films, Barryâs Bespoke Bakery promises to be a treat from start to finish (also more cakes).
G.B.F. (main
image)
This yearâs indie teen comedy G.B.F. (or Gay Best Friend for those a little late to catch on) takes the tired tropes of the high school comedies from the last decade and turns them upside down. Instead of a group of empty headed prom queen wannabes vying for the attention of the hottest jock in school, they are instead competing for the friendship of protagonist Tanner â the first guy to out himself as gay at school âthinking it will give them an edge in the campaign for prom queen (a logical decision). Witty, awkward and full of deep burns, itâs quirky indie fun.
Draft Day (pictured below)
Draft Day is an open and honest account of two Thai women born as men, who must participate in the mandatory military draft lottery when they turn 21. Short, sweet and touching, the documentary follows two friends, Ben and Nookie, who have known each other half their lives. It is attentively and thoughtfully shot, and the two girls approach there daunting task with both grace and dignity, as we watch them glam up as if for a night on the town. Warming, brave and thought provoking, definitely worth keeping an eye on.
As a member of the Iris Prizeâs pre-selection jury Philip Wyn-Jones give his thoughts on some of this years most promising film nominations.
20 MALE GAY NYC
Blake Pruitt, USA
Hereâs an interesting point. Did you know that lots of gays hate⊠gays, or at least what they perceive to be gay stereotypes; men who are muscle-bound or effeminate or empty-headed or all three! This âfactâ emerges from Pruittâs thoughtful talking-heads documentary in which ten men talk freely and frankly about their sexuality.
BUMPY NIGHT
Julie Kreuzer, Germany
Do actors stop acting when they exit the stage? In this case the answer is no. Jonas, after a successful performance as Hamlet, is the centre of attraction at a private party. His former boyfriend is there. Can Jonas maintain a veneer of cool nonchalance? The title suggests otherwise.
THE
LANGUAGE
OF LOVE
Laura Scrivano, Australia
Hereâs a thrilling example of youthful talent. Seventeen-year-old Kim Ho, from Sydney, wrote a touching monologue giving a teenagerâs view of lifeâs romantic problems. In this elegantly made film he takes the leading role as a student in a French exam. Stephen Fry saw this film and declared it âamazingâ.
CRABS IN THE SAND
Tom Garber, Israel
This film may well become a festival talking point. Young Noam, his sister and other friends are playing on the beach. They are joined by another playmate. He, Michael, is thirty years old but childlike. Noam suggests a game of blind manâs buff and blindfolds Michael. What happens then? The enigmatic ending left me with a sense of unease.
FOR DORIAN
Rodrigo Barriuso, Canada
love films with an emotional punch and this is a superb example. Dorian is a teenager with Downâs syndrome. He has a wonderful relationship with his caring father. He also has a developing friendship with another lad. His father is curious and anxious. Can he let go and allow Dorian to lead his own life?
A LAST FAREWELL
Casper Andreas, Sweden
Although Swedish-born Casper considers himself to be an American that did not prevent him wishing to make a Swedish film, and here it is. Using the cream of Swedish talent on both sides of the camera he has made this sensitive portrait of an author facing two emotional crises at the same time; the death of his lover and his fractured relationship with his daughter.
MY MOTHER
Jay Bedwani, UK
Cardiff-based Bedwani is a well-known documentary photographer and researcher with a particular interest in immigration. This touching film takes us into strange territory. Gustavo âs best friend was his late mother. He misses her terribly. As drag artist Donna in San Francisco he becomes a different personality. Is he trying to re-create, or even become, his mother?
SHOWER
Christian Norvalls, Norway
Curiosity can be dangerous. At a gym a man is enjoying a solitary shower, but what is that noise? He canât resist the urge to find out. What he discovers at first repels him but then proves to be thrilling. Then there is an interruption and the atmosphere changes completely.
WEDNESDAY 9th October 2013
09:00 â 16:00 IRIS EDUCATION DAY
Iris Prize Matrix
A series of workshops and discussion for 14-18 year olds to learn about the film industry. Chapter Arts Centre 18:00 GRANT SCICLUNA IN CONVERSATION WITH ANDREW PIERCE Chapter 2
