Sisak, touted as India’s first Silent LGBTQ love story, and Maacher Jhol, an animated movie about coming out, have been selected for the prestigious Iris Prize Festival. Established in 2007, Iris Prize is an international LGBT short film prize. The short film festival will be held between 10th to 15th October, at Cardiff, Wales.
Talking to Gaylaxy, Sisak director Faraz Ansari said: “For a small Indian independent film that was self-produced and partly, crowdfunded, without any producers or support from any LGBTQ groups or festivals, this is a very, very proud moment for my entire cast & crew. With Sisak, we got in Iris without any influences or any support from another festival but on merit and selection that got us to the final shortlist in the first 10 films to be selected in pre-selections. I am stoked, I am thrilled and I am honored with all the love that Sisak is garnering!”
Every year, 10 short LGBTQ movies are selected from across the world. Another 25 are nominated by Iris’ partner festivals, bringing the total number in the competition to thirty-five. The winner receives a prize of £30,000 – the largest prize for a gay and lesbian short film in the world. Previous winners have gone on to produce more award winning short films with the generous £30,000 prize funded by The Michael Bishop Foundation.