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| Balcony won the Iris Prize and British Short Award |
It was the first time in the prize's 10-year history that it was won by a UK filmmaker. The £30,000 prize will allow Toby to make a new short film in Wales, becoming the ninth Iris production.
Jury chair Cheryl Dunye said: “We felt that the director crafted a powerful film where not a single moment of its 17 minutes was wasted. The lead performance by Charlotte Beaumont was particularly outstanding as she took us on an internal transformation that left us speechless”.
“The film explored myriad social justice issues not only relevant to LGBT filmmaking but also with those that intersect with race, class, and gender issues in both the UK and the world today”.
Fell-Holden said, “We are thrilled and humbled to have been awarded both the Iris Prize and Best British Award. The film was a huge labour of love that tackled issues of perception around race and sexual identity.
“It is a big honour to have Iris recognise the film, particularly given the current political climate around immigration and what it means to be ‘other’. Our deepest thanks goes out to the jury of the awards”.
The Best Feature Award went to Shaleece Haas for Real Boy. The jury said it took them "on a journey filled with a real emotion".
Special commendations were as follows along with jury remarks:
"Thanks for Dancing (Takk For Turen) directed by Henrik Martin Duhlsbakken from Norway. The jury admired the chemistry between the two leads, the dynamic performance of the estranged daughter and its refreshing acknowledgement of homophobia in sports”.
"Sunday Lunch (Le Repas Dominical) directed by Céline Devaux from France. “A witty animation where sound design, humour and a unique brand of story-telling drove home the universal feelings that many of us in the LGBTQ communities have felt with both our birth families and sometimes the families we call our own”.
Winners: Best British Award - Balcony, Dir Toby Fell-Holden
Highly Commended: Oh-Be-Joyful, Dir Susan Jacobson The Carer, Dir Christine Parker Best Performance Award - Tom Green and Kerry Fox for Downriver, Dir Grant Scicluna Iris Prize Youth Award - Sign, Dir Andrew Keenan-Bolger; the jury highly commended Queen’s Mile, Dir Martin Delaney.
