Iris 2025: Best Bits

• Award winners, audience favourites from the opening night – unforgettable stories from the 2025 Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival as part of Iris on the Move 2026. From a haunted tollhouse to a high-rise reckoning, from quiet self-discovery to a love song by the sea, these films capture the brilliance, beauty, and bravery that define Iris.
• Programme duration: 65 minutes.

Y Tolldy (2025 Opening Night)
Director: Dan Thomas
Cynhyrchydd:
Writer:
Country: Wales, UK
Duration: 10 minutes
Rating: 15
Iaith: Welsh with English Subtitles
Crynodeb: When Emyr visits his hometown with his partner, a decade after vowing not to return, a chance meeting
with his old school bully turns into a terrifying battle against forces they cannot explain.

Blackout (2025 Best British Winner)
Director: Chris Urch
Cynhyrchydd: Solomon Golding
Writer: Chris Urch
Country: UK
Duration: 15 minutes
Rating: 15
Iaith: Saesneg
Synopsis: When a young man living in a high-rise is disturbed by domestic violence in the flat next door, he comes to
realise that violence isn’t always on the outside – sometimes it’s with us all along.

One Day This Kid (2025 Iris Prize Winner)
Director: Alexander Farah
Cynhyrchydd: Joaquin Cardoner
Writer: Alexander Farah
Country: Canada
Duration: 18 minutes
Rating: 15
Iaith: English & Farsi with English Subtitles
Synopsis: As told by filmmaker Alexander Farah through a deftly composed array of small yet pivotal moments, a first-generation Afghan Canadian man takes steps toward establishing an identity of his own while always conscious of his father’s shadow.

Never, Never, Never (2025 Opening night)
Director: John Sheedy
Cynhyrchydd: Andre Lima, Grant Vidgen
Writer: Elizabeth Packett. Story by: John Sheedy & Elizabeth Packett
Country: UK/Australia
Duration: 18 minutes
Rating: 15
Iaith: English & Welsh with English Subtitles
Synopsis: A poignant and heartwarming story set in a Welsh fishing village. Henrick (Ché) and Arwyn (Iwan) share a bond that transcends friendship, filled with unspoken longing and love. Henrick’s love for Shirley Bassey’s music is his way to overcome the conservative views of their community.  The film explores the struggles of Henrick and Arwyn as they navigate their feelings for each other in a society that may not fully accept them.  This is the thirteenth film made by a winner of the Iris Prize.