Monday 24 August 2009

Matthew Rhys confirms Iris Prize Festival line-up for 2009! Iris Prize


24 Aug 2009
Matthew Rhys confirmes Iris Prize Festival line-up for 2009!

The full programme for the Iris Prize Festival has been announced today by Iris Prize Patron Matthew Rhys. The Festival takes place from 7 - 10 October 2009 at Cineworld and Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, Wales (UK).

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Matthew Rhys confirmes Iris Prize Festival line-up for 2009! Iris Prize

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"The Iris Prize with lightening speed has become a significant event on the international film festival circuit by focusing on gay and lesbian film making talent.

The 2009 programme of feature films and talks, as well as the shortlisted 30 short films for the Iris Prize, looks very impressive and confirms that Cardiff is the place to be this October," said Matthew Rhys, Iris Prize Festival Patron.

The 2009 programme includes 3 European premieres of new and exciting US features:

Redwoods (Dir: David Lewis, USA, 2009)

Matthew Montgomery who plays Chase in Redwoods will be at the screening in Cardiff to introduce the film. He will also be contributing during the festival on a number of panels sharing his experience within the independent film market, having produced 4 feature films.

"The Iris Prize Festival is a wonderful and reputable avenue to see new work as it's known for bringing together the best of the best. It's exciting for the audience to see new movies, but during a festival such as The Iris Prize, we also have the opportunity to meet the many talented individuals involved in bringing films to life.

This is one of the many reasons why festivals like Iris and her global network of partner festivals are so important," said Matthew Montgomery.


[Pictured above: Welsh actor Matthew Rhys, who plays the gay character in 'Brothers & Sister' made the cover of the world's most read gay magazine, The Advocate.]

"The Festival has become quite reputable in supporting filmmakers alike. I'm thrilled to be sharing some of my own experiences within the independent film market during the informal and formal sessions taking place throughout the festival.

During these strenuous economic conditions, I'm convinced that by unifying and sharing our experiences of best practice we will build a stronger gay and lesbian filmmaking community," he added.

The Big Gay Musical (Dir: Casper Andreas and Fred M Caruso, USA, 2009)

Manhattan based actor Daniel Robinson who plays Paul in the film will be visiting Cardiff for the first time to introduce the film.

"I’m so excited about visiting Cardiff I’ve heard such a lot about Iris. This will be my first visit to Wales, I’ve heard it’s a beautiful country. I’m also honoured to be presenting The Big Gay Musical at the festival.

This will be the film’s first screening outside of the US so I’m quite excited to see how a European audience will respond to the film," said Daniel Robinson.

"I enjoyed working on the film, Casper, who was on the Iris jury last year, and Fred were very generous directors.

We also had a great cast. I had one scene with Brent Corrigan which is quite sensitive and not what people might expect. Its great news that Brent is also attending the festival and I’m looking forward to meeting up with him in Cardiff," he added.

Hollywood Je t’aime (Dir: Jason Bushman, USA, 2009)

Jason Bushman returns to Cardiff to introduce his first feature film. He attended the inaugural Iris Prize Festival in 2007 with his short film Serene Hunter staring Eric Debets, who also plays the lead in Hollywood Je t’aime.

"I’m very excited to be able to open the features strand of this year’s festival with Hollywood Je t’aime. Not only is this a wonderfully entertaining and magical film but it offers us a chance to invite Jason Bushman back to Cardiff. He made such a big impression with his short film Serene Hunter during our inaugural festival in 2007.

It’s fantastic to see Jason going from strength to strength and for Iris to be a small part of that, we feel very proud of what he has achieved" said Berwyn Rowlands from the Iris Prize.

The full programme of 6 features also includes Fiona’s Scrip (Dir: Florencia Manovil) and two accomplished films from France, Highly Strung Jet e mangerais (Dir: Sophie Laloy) and the International Festival Favourite Give Me Your Hand Donne-moi la mains (Dir: Pascal-Alex Vincent).

Confirmed guests attending the Iris Prize Festival to introduce their feature films are: Jason Bushman (director Hollywood Je t'aime), Florencia Manovil (director Fiona's Script), Matthew Montgomery (actor Redwoods), Daniel Robinson (actor The Big Gay Musical), Brent Corrigan (The Big Gay Musical) and Pascal-Alex Vincent (director Give Me Your Hand).

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