Iris Prize Co-op Audience award winners announced – the ‘Oscars’ of the LGBTQ+ short film world.

- Jim, by Tom Young, wins the Co-op Best British Audience Award.

- Channel4 to screen all 15 Best British nominated films from today· Film4 to continue supporting the Best British Short for a further three years

- Welsh-made Skinny Fat by Mathew David is runner-up, and What Is A Woman from Marin Håskjold takes third place.

Iris Online is over and Jim, directed by Tom Young has been announced the winner of the Iris Prize Co-op Audience Award for 2022. Young’s film has already been a winner in the Best Performance in a Male Role (Gary Fannin as ‘Jim’). The Iris Prize is Cardiff’s International LGBTQ+ Short Film Prize, supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation.

Tom Young said: ‘I'm delighted that "Jim" has spoken to audiences at Iris. I fell in love with the life story of the real-life priest behind the film after making a documentary about him in 2018, and it is great to have brought a part of that to life.

'Our hope now is to expand that into a feature biopic, so to have this recognition means a lot. A huge thank you to my cast - especially Gary who'd already deservedly won Best Actor - and crew, to Iris for the original nomination, and to Iris audiences for their support.’

Written and directed by Tom Young, Jim was inspired by true events in west London, in 1982. Gay priest Jim Fitzsimmons reaches a decision: he is going to spend one night with a rent boy. The night will change Jim’s life forever, but not for the reasons he expects.

The runner-up for the Co-op Audience Award is Skinny Fat, made in Wales by Mathew David, and in third place, What Is A Woman, by Marin Håskjold from Norway.

Rebecca Birkbeck, Director of Community and Member Participation said: ‘We are delighted to again support the Iris Prize, and to see the quality and range of LGBTQ+ stories coming through. Congratulations to Tom and all involved in Jim for telling this story. It is important that everyone is able to live their life openly and without fear.

'I’m lucky that in my role at the Co-op, and now as a sponsor of our Respect network, I’m able to continue our support and allyship for the LGBTQ+ community all year round. From the community groups we support through our community missions to our ongoing partnership with Iris, enabling us to support young people through our education outreach day at Co-op Academies.

‘Co-op’s vision is “Co-operating for a Fairer World”, and the Iris Prize once again illustrates the power representation on screen can play, helping to achieve the changes we want to see in our society.’

The 15 short films nominated for the 2022 Iris Prize Best British award will be available to watch from Monday, 7 November 2022. The first Programme will broadcast at 02:10 (Tuesday morning) with the following two on the next consecutive nights (01:15 and 01:05).

- Iris Prize Best British: Youth (Monday 7 November, 2.10am – 3.25am)

- Iris Prize Best British: Lonely Hearts (Tuesday 8 November, 1:15am – 2.20am)

- Iris Prize Best British: Finding Joy (Wednesday 9 November, 1:05am – 2.25am)

All three programmes and all the individual films will go live on the All4 platform right after the first broadcast. Berwyn Rowlands, Iris Prize Film Festival Director, said: ‘We are thrilled to be able to present to our audiences 15 short films made in Britain and supported by one of the most LGBTQ+-friendly broadcasters and champion of the Iris Prize.

‘This year’s Best British award marks the continuation of a three-year sponsorship agreement with British producer and broadcaster Film4. The agreement will see Film4 acquire broadcast and streaming rights to each of the 15 British LGBTQ+ short films shortlisted for the Iris Prize Best British Short Supported by Film4. All of the nominated films are eligible for consideration for BAFTA and can automatically be entered by the filmmakers.

‘Iris may have left Cardiff for this year but will be back touring the country in the new year.  Watch this space.’ Full details about Iris Prize and this year’s winners can be found here:  https://irisprize.org/

Iris Prize will return next year: Tuesday 10 October – Sunday 15 October 2023