Welsh Talent Set To Shine At 20th Anniversary Edition Of Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival

Welsh talent is in abundence at the 20th edition of the Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival – a celebration of global stories and Cardiff charm.  Traditionally, Opening Night is the showcase for new Welsh filmmaking, and this year is no exception, as the week-long festival opens in two Cardiff city Centre venues – St David’s Dewi Sant, and Cineworld Cardiff – with the promise of more Welsh highlights during the following seven days. 

Heledd Fychan MS, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Sport, said:

“The Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival is a powerful celebration of storytelling, representation and creativity. This year’s programme highlights the strength of Welsh talent alongside diverse voices from around the world, demonstrating how a festival rooted in Wales can make a truly international impact. Creative Wales is proud to support Iris Prize in creating opportunities for LGBTQ+ storytellers, championing Welsh talent and helping our screen and creative industries flourish globally.” 

The line-up for the Opening Night of the BAFTA and BIFA qualifying film festival in Cardiff, which takes place between the 12 and 18 of October, starts with the unveiling of the Pink Portraits 2026, celebrating LGBTQ+ colleagues whose experiences and individuality help shape the BBC in Wales. Featuring 19 people from across the organisation, the project is produced by BBC Cymru Wales in partnership with Iris Prize and Ffotogallery. This year the photographs have been created by Cardiff-born creative Harrison Williams. 

As the celebrations move to Cineworld, Llinos Lee from S4C’s Heno returns to help create new memories as she guides those in attendance through a fabulous programme of shorts and an opportunity to meet the creative talents involved. Guests attending Opening Night will be offered drinks and snacks by TGI Fridays, and following the showcasing of the four Welsh films, the party will continue in the top floor bar at Cineworld.   

From the four new films made in Wales screening on Opening Night, to the Welsh premiere of Black Church Bay by Welsh-Irish director Rhys Marc Jones, the Welsh connection for Iris is strong throughout the jury (S4C’s Sara Peacock chairs the Iris Prize jury, along with jury member Rebecca Hardy, Director of BAFTA Cymru, and Guto Rhun sits on the Best British jury), Best British shortlist, Iris Talks, and Industry Day. 

Iris Prize Festival Director Berwyn Rowlands said:

“Opening night is always an opportunity for the festival to highlight Welsh Talent. This year is another example of amazing films featuring LGBTQ+ stories from people starting their working life in film to those who are at the top of their game. The opening is also a chance to party although it is technically still a school night!”   

The following Welsh films will be shown on Opening Night: 

Love Is Not An Emotion | Dir. Will Collins. Wales, UK. 2026.  

In a time where AI’s prevalence cannot be ignored; an unlikely romance brews between  Archie and Rory. Navigating a relationship isn’t always easy, but how does love work when one of you is an android?  Will Collins is a queer, non-binary, director/writer and graduate of Performance and Media at the University of South Wales. They have had many roles working on a range of productions and live events for companies such as S4C, Clerkenwell Films/Channel 4 and It’s My Shout/BBC Cymru Wales.  

Cranogwen a Fi | Dir. Mari Izzard. Wales, UK. 2026. 15  

When anxious Nia struggles to find her place at university, she accidentally summons Cranogwen, the famously outspoken 19th-century Welsh poet, sailor, and unapologetic lesbian, to help her. From Bridgend, Mari Izzard’s work champions bold female, working-class voices with humour and heart. A fluent Welsh speaker, she works in both Welsh and English, exploring complex and difficult themes through a sharply comedic lens.  Living with an invisible disability and as a neurodiverse artist, Mari brings lived experience, emotional precision and wit to her work, placing underrepresented perspectives at the forefront of stories. Cranogwen a Fi is Mari’s directorial début.  

Wear I Am | Dir. Vicky Morton. Wales, UK. 2026.  

When a request for gender-affirming clothing reaches grassroots charity TIN Wardrobe, a donated parcel begins a journey across the Irish Sea. Wear I Am follows its path, exploring identity, resilience and chosen family while celebrating gender euphoria and grassroots solidarity within the trans, non-binary and intersex community. Vicky Morton is a Welsh documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Red Mountain Films. Their visually driven work explores identity, community and underrepresented voices. Their latest documentary, Wear I Am, was supported by the Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Documentary Film Fund. Recently, Vicky was also selected for the 2026 Sheffield DocFest Filmmaker Challenge and the 2025 Ffilm Cymru Wales delegation to IDFA. 

BTS – Pink Portraits 2026  | Shot and edited by Kole Parrott  

A behind-the-scenes look at the production of the Pink Portraits 2026, produced by Iris Prize and Ffotogallery in partnership with BBC Cymru Wales.  

Also showing is Try , the first film directed by Lewis Bayley (UK. 2026). Sam arrives at the wake of his closeted boyfriend, Joe, who has recently passed away. Overhearing Joe’s friends mention a girlfriend, Sam spirals into doubt. Finding refuge in the locker room with Joe’s belongings, he is unexpectedly joined by Joe’s mother, Tia, who has no idea who he is. Try marks Lewis Bayley’s directorial debut, transitioning from producing, most recently co-producing the short Shrike. He’s in active development on several queer film/TV projects. Previous credits include RTS-nominated Missed Conceptions and Kodak award-winning Greatest Adventure of All. As a Iris Talks programmer, he has also interviewed Roger Deakins and Adjoa Andoh. 

The Welsh showcase doesn’t stop at Opening Night. During the course of the week, Iris Prize delegates will be able to watch the Best British shortlisted Please Mistress, made in Wales by Alia Ramna, who returns to Iris following a starring role in Cardiff-based Sobia Bushra’s Trailblazers, which featured in the 2025 Best British shortlist. Please Mistress is based on lived experience, this darkly funny film traces Ayesha’s dive into online sex work.  Varied interactions with her invisible clientele help her find her power as a trans woman. 

Black Church Bay by Welsh-Irish director Rhys Marc Jones will have its Welsh premiere at Iris, and stars Welsh actor Tom Cullen as a conflicted teacher dealing with the consequences of a sixth-former (Joe Locke) disappearing. It follows the immediate aftermath of the event, exploring the lengths a person might go to hide their true self – to save their skin at the expense of their soul.  

Iris Talks features two Welsh language sessions: Queer Archive: In or Out? hosted by Paul “Stumpy” Davies, with a panel including Guto Rhun and Sara Peacock; and Queer Welsh Creativity: What’s Out There? hosted by Dan Huw Bowen, the co-founder and Events Producer at The Queer Emporium, with guests including Leo Drayton and Liam J Edwards. A third Iris Talks Beyond the Tropes: Lesbians, Representation and Cinema will be chaired by Iris Prize Intern and Cardiff University student Emma Sansum, with Welsh historian and writer Norena Shopland and filmmaker Rachel Dax in conversation. 

Industry Day 2026 is full of talent too, with Cardiff-based Bad Wolf’s Emma Obank joining Iris for the session on Navigating Funding and Development, along with Cardiff-based Celi Fowler, and Film4’s Alice Whittemore, who previously worked as a BFI Network Manager at Film Cymru. Allison Dowzell, Chair of RTS Cymru Wales, and Managing Director of Screen Alliance Wales has boarded the Industry Day as Chair of the Steering Group, Maggie Russell (Chair of the Arts Council of Wales) will give the keynote address, and Lisa Baker, the writer of the much-acclaimed Madfabulous joins the panel for Lessons from the Feature Frontline. 

Iris Prize returns for the 20th edition on Monday 12 October until Sunday 18 October