Iris Prize Announces Competition Line Up for Best British Short Film
By Natalia Albin Legorreta
Still from shortlisted film Two Black Boys in Paradise
The Iris Prize, an annual festival celebrating queer cinema, has announced the line up for their 2025 LGBTQ+ short film prize, Best British, sponsored by Film4 and Pinewood Studios. It is the largest LGBTQ+ focused short film prize in the world. The winner is awarded £40,000, allowing them to make their next LGBTQ+ short film in Wales.
"It has been a great pleasure for me to see the quality of storytelling improve year on year,” says Festival Director Berwyn Rowlands. “The benchmarking that takes place annually during the festival gives filmmakers an idea of what is considered excellence in storytelling, and 2025 feels like an accomplished year. In the early years, finding 10 excellent short films was a challenge; finding 15 this year was easy. We could easily screen more.”
All films that are shortlisted for the prize are eligible for BAFTA consideration. Additionally, all 15 shortlisted films for Best British are streamed on Channel 4, available for a year following the festival.
The shortlisted films this year are:
BLACKOUT (dir. Chris Urch, prod. Solomon Golding)
with Mawaan Rizwan
BURY YOUR GAYS (dir. Charlotte Serena Cooper, prod. Charlotte Brownlee)
with Jude Mack, T'Nia Miller, Harry Trevaldwyn, Sophie Melville
DEMONS (dir. Emmanuel Imani, prod. Emmanuel Imani, Byron McNally)
with Emmanuel Imani, Fela Lufadeju, Ronke Adekoluejo
HOT YOUNG GEEK SEEKS BLOOD SUCKING FREAK (dir. Heath Virgoe, prod. Niamh West)
with Angus Stobie, Kat Ronney, Reece Montague
LISBON (dir. Matthew Jacobs Morgan, prod. Matthew Jacobs Morgan)
with John Cameron Mitchell, Matthew Jacobs Morgan
MAN ENOUGH (dir. Beru Tessema, prod. RADA)
with Jack Ambrose, Bella Aubin, Joanie Diamond
MEAT RAFFLE (dir. Stuart Armstrong, prod. Harry Shaw)
with Michael Hodgson, Will Latimer, Dominic Weatherill
PUREBRED (dir. Caleb J. Roberts, prod. Jon Beer)
with Pete MacHale, Diarmuid Noyes
SLEAZY TIGER (dir. James Ley, prod. Jack Cowhig and Laura McBride)
with Jay Newton, Alan Cumming, Jack Douglas
SOLERS UNITED (dir. Sara Harrak, prod. Lewis Coates)
with Leah Harvey, Hannah Onslow, Laura Checkley
SOVIET FANTASIA (dir. Penn Bálint, prod. Gerzson Szántó, Penn Bálint)
with Elizabeth Kate Weber, Zsófia Kemény, Charlie Coldfield
SWEETHEART (dir. Luke Wintour, prod. Chloe Culpin, Elliot Zelmanovits, Luke Kelly, Francesca Woods)
with Eben Figueiredo, Thomas Flynn, Ian Gelder
THE SECOND TIME AROUND (dir. Jack Howard, prod. Ash Horne & Max Marlow)
with Caroline Goodall, Hannah Onslow, Genevieve Lewis
TRAILBLAZERS (dir. Sobia Bushra, prod. Ronan Williams)
with Amir Dean, Aiman Rahim, Alia Ramna
TWO BLACK BOYS IN PARADISE (dir. Baz Sells, prod. Ben Jackson)
with Arun Blair-Mangat, Jordan Stephens
These 15 films will be eligible for the following awards at the Iris Prize Festival:
Iris Prize Best British Short Award – Sponsored by Film4 & Pinewood Studios
Best British Performance in a Female Role
Best British Performance in a Male Role
Best British Performance Beyond the Binary
Iris Prize Co-op Audience Award (voted for by festival audiences, in-person and online)
Iris Prize Youth Jury Award
Iris Prize Elders Jury Award
The Festival will take place from the 13th to the 19th of October in Cardiff and passes are available here.