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Iris on the Move 2024: Celebrating LGBTQ+ film at Plymouth Arts Cinema
Friday, 26 January, 2024 — Iris on the Move 2024 brings a curated programme of short films to partners Plymouth Arts Cinema and Arts University Plymouth
<p dir="ltr">Iris On The Move 2024 is an upcoming major joint initiative between Arts University Plymouth, <a href="https://plymouthartscinema.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plymouth Arts Cinema</a> and <a href="https://irisprize.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Iris Prize</a>, celebrating LGBTQ+ film across the world. This year, Iris On The Move will take place with two screenings held at Plymouth Arts Cinema on Thursday 15 February 2024.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Iris on the Move brings to Plymouth Arts Cinema <a href="https://plymouthartscinema.org/whats-on/the-best-of-iris-2023-15/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Best of Iris 2023</a>, a curated collection of short films that have been honoured and celebrated at the 2023 Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival, followed by <a href="https://plymouthartscinema.org/whats-on/falling-in-love-with-iris-15/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Falling in Love with Iris</a>, a collection of short films that explore looking for love, finding love, desire and human connections in various forms. Both screenings will be introduced by Seth Edmonds, Assistant to the Director at Iris Prize.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Iris Prize is a film and media organisation dedicated to showcasing and promoting LGBTQ+ stories, aiming to expand their reach and impact. The organisation is driving a range of exciting projects designed to entertain, educate and inspire. Now in its 17th year, the Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Festival is home to the Iris Prize £30,000 film award, the world’s largest short film prize, which funds the winner to make a short film. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Iris on the Move is one of several prominent events available to our <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-film-screen-arts">BA (Hons) Film & Screen Arts</a> students, offering an enriching platform for engagement and remains open to students and staff from all courses, fostering the diverse and inclusive environment that encourages cross disciplinary study and creative exploration.<br /></p>
Sara Harrak (centre), winner of Best British 2023 for the film "F**ked," is pictured with festival director Berwyn Rowlands (right) at the Iris awards. She will also be travelling to Plymouth on 15 February for a Q+A following the screening of the Best of Iris 2023 programme.
<p dir="ltr">Arts University Plymouth, Plymouth Arts Cinema and Iris Prize have worked together annually since 2020. In 2021, <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma-illustration">MA Illustration</a> and <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-illustration">BA (Hons) Illustration</a> graduate <a href="https://www.instagram.com/irismgnart/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Iris Morgan</a> created a series of dynamic designs for the 15th anniversary of the Iris Prize. Iris’ illustrations were chosen for their vibrantly colourful and humorous look, reflecting the diversity of the festival’s ever expanding global audience, and featured across all the organisation’s media platforms.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Iris on the Move brings exclusive pre-release screenings, talks and director Q&A’s alongside filmmaking tips and advice for submitting to film festivals. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Assistant Dean Lucy Leake said, “We are thrilled to be welcoming Iris on the Move to Plymouth again this year. Iris is an important festival that champions LGBTQ+ filmmaking, supporting filmmakers to tell important and diverse stories. For our Film and Screen Arts students, Iris on the Move is a chance to witness how short form film has the power to tell emotive stories Last year as part of the event we were privileged to view John Sheedy’s incredible award-winning short films ‘Tarneit’ (2022) and ‘Mrs McCutcheon’ (2017), which were both profoundly moving, so we are excited to see this year’s selection.”<br /></p>
Iris Morgan's illustration from 2021
<p dir="ltr">You can buy tickets for Iris on the Move 2024 screenings from the <a href="https://plymouthartscinema.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plymouth Arts Cinema website</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-film-screen-arts">BA (Hons) Film & Screen Arts</a> at Arts University Plymouth is a practical filmmaking course where students explore the craft and aesthetics of contemporary screen-based media, learning the skills required to design and make for film and media production. Students cover a broad range of approaches to film and media, and investigate the current and emerging techniques used in the global filmmaking industries. The course covers specialist techniques including cinematography, production design, screen direction, sound production, set-building, lighting design, editing, visual effects, social media production and experimental image-making. Led by a team of filmmakers and media producers, all areas of learning are underpinned by a rigorous critical and cultural understanding of film in its many contemporary forms, setting students up to succeed in whatever specialism they choose to pursue.</p>
<p dir="ltr">To find out more about BA (Hons) Film & Screen Arts at Arts University Plymouth, the next <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/open-days">Open Day</a> will be held on Saturday 23 March 2024, with opportunities to meet expert academics, speak to current students and get a taste for life at the UK’s newest independent arts university.</p>
