IRIS PRIZE - Key Persons
Adnan, an international graduate student from the University of South Wales, has recently completed his degree and now works full-time with the Iris Prize. He has a strong passion for working, learning new skills, and staying engaged on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. He is also a big fan of films and sports especially Football. That's why, you'll see him wearing a sky-blue kit.
Secretly he wishes to see every corner of the world. ONE DAY!
Until then he tries to be a better human being, one smile at a time.
Alice Blanc is currently working as Distribution Coordinator, French Territories at Motion Picture Solutions. Alice's past experience volunteering at film festivals, current experience in outreach and event-producing sets them in great stead for this role. Alice has demonstrated great experience in account management, business development and sales. They are looking to pursue career within distribution, acquisition and marketing (Film and TV sector). They also bring international experience to Iris: 11 years spent in Asia, and speaks 5 languages. Alice is currently studying at UCLA Extension ‘Business & Management in Entertainment'.
Job Titles:
- Production Advisor ( Documentary )
Angela Clarke is a Scottish filmmaker living in Wales. In 2019 she founded Wheesht Films, an independent production company based in Cardiff. For the last 17 years Angela has executive produced, directed and developed factual TV content for UK & international broadcasters.
In 2017 she embarked upon making her first independent short documentary film Bachelor, 38 for cinematic release. In 2018 it was shortlisted for Best British & Best International Film at the Iris Prize Film Festival. It received a commendation for Best British Short and, scooped the runner up spot in the Audience Award for Best British Short.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
- First Chief Executive of Sgrîn
Berwyn believes that popular music started with Abba and was eventually taken to another level by the Pet Shop Boys. When his home was burgled in 2000 he was relieved that his CD collection was not disturbed by the intruder who was very kind, stealing only his prescription Ray-ban glasses and dirty sports kit!
He's come to terms with the fact that he is not a big fan of musical theatre but has seen Mama Mia twice, once in Vegas when he and Grant were also offered tickets to see Celine Dion which they passed and once in Cardiff where his father was seen tapping his foot - the nearest they've ever seen Mr Rowlands senior dance!
When not working on his garden (once a year) or cooking for friends (four times a year) Berwyn can be found most evenings in his favourite Cardiff restaurants.
Bethan is responsible for the 2023 Audience Survey, making sure we know what we need to know to make sure we offer you, our audience, the best experience ever! She is also one of our pre-selection panel members.
Bethan is an Art Law graduate and comedy/events producer, with a passion for film, festivals, and community arts. She is looking forward to enjoying a range of LGBTQ+ representation where the lesbians aren't always guaranteed to explode.
For 25 years, Christopher Racster has made an impact as a filmmaker, non-profit executive, and LGBTQ activist, employing media to foster understanding and acceptance of the LGBTQ community. Currently, Christopher runs a Los Angeles based consultancy focused on non-profit and...
Damian Kerlin is a writer, broadcaster and content creator. Damian has written for Attitude, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Belfast Telegraph, Out News Global, Gay Community News and Left Foot Forward. Damian featured as part of Sony's Broccolli Productions award...
Erykah has just graduated from Cardiff University in Media and Communications. She started her journey with Iris in 2021 as an Intern and has stuck around ever since! Erykah is really passionate about film and diversity, and so loves everything that Iris is about, almost as much as she loves her sausage dog.
Back in his formative teenage years there were very few films that featured any form of gay content. As a result, whenever anything was shown on TV or at the cinema Francis just had to watch; however bad or obscure. Apart from seeing some pretty dreadful cinema it also meant he was exposed to film makers such as Fassbinder, Lindsay Anderson and Pasolini. How times have changed and now there is Iris which is first and foremost about good cinema rather than simply showing films that have gay content.
He is particularly pleased and excited that Iris is nurturing new musical talent such as Lily Beau who's song "Tonight" was chosen for the international montage in 2015.
Francis and his partner Martin have been together for over 3 decades and live with their wayward cat Bobby in the Canton area of Cardiff.
Grant has a passion for putting things into alphabetical order and studying train timetables - which is probably just as well as he's retained by the Iris Prize team to look after the archive as well organising the travel for the guests. Over the past five years no-one's got lost and all the films have made it Cardiff for their screenings within budget so he must be doing something right.
Outside of the period of peak activity around the Festival Grant keeps the office infrastructure running and also works as one of the producers of the Iris Prize winner's prize short.
Harrison is a University of South Wales graduate with experience in Short Docs, Music Videos and a variety of other promotional content. His favourite thing to do when working with Iris is Onset photography and BTS, he loves capturing the hard work that goes into creating amazing visuals.
Outside of looking through an eyepiece, Harrison enjoys trying new food and he's pretty handy in the kitchen as well!
World-famous soul singer Heather Small achieved huge success in the 1990s with the group M People, selling over 10 million albums worldwide, before embarking on a solo career, with hits including Proud. Heather has been a supporter of the Iris Prize for many years, performing during the festival's awards show in 2017 and returning in 2018 as a member of the International Jury. She joins Iris as a patron with the objective of increasing awareness for Iris's work in sharing LGBT+ stories with a new audience.
Job Titles:
- Head of Outreach & Social Media
Holly has been around Iris since the very beginning, having made appearances over the years in various capacities from audience member to jury coordinator to red coat wearer. After working in Musical Theatre in the West End (sorry Berwyn!) and event marketing, she returned in 2020 to coordinate social media for the first digital Iris Prize Festival and this year will also be focussing on the Iris in the Community project.
Back in his formative teenage years there were very few films that featured any form of gay content. As a result, whenever anything was shown on TV or at the cinema Francis just had to watch; however bad or obscure. Apart from seeing some pretty dreadful cinema it also meant he was exposed to film makers such as Fassbinder, Lindsay Anderson and Pasolini. How times have changed and now there is Iris which is first and foremost about good cinema rather than simply showing films that have gay content.
He is particularly pleased and excited that Iris is nurturing new musical talent such as Lily Beau who's song "Tonight" was chosen for the international montage in 2015.
Francis and his partner Martin have been together for over 3 decades and live with their wayward cat Bobby in the Canton area of Cardiff.
Jody heads up Bulldozer Films, working with grassroots talent hosting Cardiff Mini Film Festival and three BFI Film Academies in Wales. She also works with new diverse voices as a production Manager with It's My Shout.
Katie White is an award-winning, Scottish BAFTA-nominated writer, producer and director based in Scotland. Her 2014 film Middle Man, directed by Charlie Francis, won the award for Best British Short at that year's Iris Prize Festival. She and Charlie returned to Cardiff the following year with their follow-on short film, When a Man Loves a Woman, made partly with the assistance of their prize.
Job Titles:
- Technical and Events Support
Kris has been part of the Iris team for the past 10 years and has undertaken key roles in each of the winner's films, several of which have been recognised for their excellence with Sundance and Bafta. During the festival Kris can often be found heading up the technical team and enjoying the nightly parties!
Lynne has been involved with the Iris Prize Festival since the beginning, in a professional and personal capacity, and had been helping the team with Welsh language copy and working with Francis on membership developments. Now she works as Head of News and Welsh Language.
Lynne loves rugby, cats, music, and film. She has worked with words for a very long time and has also taught others how to use words ‘properly', in Welsh and in English. She regularly corrects her friends' grammar, especially those misusing less and fewer, and other who get their treigladau mixed up. (No names mentioned!)
She first met Berwyn and Grant when working as a freelance journalist. Having called Berwyn to discuss a film that was showing at the Aberystwyth International Film Festival, he asked her to call back later and ask for Vidgen the Pigeon… This was the start of a beautiful friendship.
When not watching the Scarlets play rugby, listening to Joy Division and The Wedding Present, and watching all kinds of films, Lynne can be found either teaching Welsh at the University of South Wales, or running her own communications business, gofal gair.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Volunteer Co - Ordinator
Nick has been knocking about the LGBT Community in Cardiff for a number of years and has been a longstanding friend of Iris through his participation in the South Wales Gay Men's Chorus and is fortunate enough to feature in two of the Iris in the Community films.
Having volunteered a few times at previous Iris festivals, Nick has become an official member of the team to support Francis Brown in co-ordinating the small of army of volunteers that gather together once a year to help the smooth running of the festival week. Always a huge honour to be involved!
In another life away from Iris, Nick is gainfully employed in the Civil Service. But we won't talk about that.
Job Titles:
- Assistant to the Director
Hi I'm Seth! I just graduated from Cardiff Uni in Journalism, Media, and Sociology and am now working here as an Assistant to the Director. I like to spend my time enjoying the green spaces in and around the city - but if the Welsh weather is against me I'll be curled up with a tv show or game or dancing around to music. Celebrating and uplifting LGBTQ+ stories is very important to me, so I am excited to be channelling my skills, ideas, and passion into my work at Iris.
Stuart was introduced to the Iris family during his time at the University of South Wales.
He remains with the family and has become an important member of the team responsible for the complicated stuff.
Suzy Davies is a qualified solicitor who became a Welsh politician, and served as a Member of the Senedd for South Wales West from 2011 to 2021. She held the office of Shadow Minister for Culture and Welsh Language between 2011 and 2016. She has written for various publications and was one of the founding board members of the Welsh International Film Festival in 1989 with Iris Prize Director Berwyn Rowlands.
Tom Abell - Chairman, Managing Director
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Managing Director
Tom is the managing director of UK and Ireland based distributor Peccadillo Pictures, which he founded in 2020.
Abell was appointed the inaugural Iris Prize Fellowship in 2019, which honours those who have made a significant contribution to the LGBT+ film industry.