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11:30am, and the Iriseers (as in, the festival’s called Iris, and we’ll SEE lots of films… no?) were gathering in the top floor bar at Cineworld for Day 2’s meet, greet and Tweet.
After Day 1’s almost Biblical deluge, it was a relief to see azure skies over Cardiff, and smiles on faces. It seems our regulars and visitors alike have paced themselves, and were in their beds at sensible hours last night.
The lovely Oli uploaded the latest blog, and on re-reading it the Iris blogger realised just how much of a lecher he can sound at times. There really should be a word for ogling cute guys via the medium of blog. Blogling? (Stop thinking out loud – Ed.)
Anyway… At 12:30 we were hurled into the heart of the Iris Prize Festival with Programme 1 of the shorts, and the jawdroppingly funny and unexpected ‘Skallaman’ (dir. Maria Bock.) The Iris Blogger is grateful he chose not to read this year’s programme in advance and never mastered Norwegian. If he had, he’d have already known the title translates as “Bald Guy”, and that the film promised a big show-tune. As it is, the transition – from glacial Scandinavian drama to large-scale Fosse-esque dance number – was both unexpected and thrilling.
Another one to look out for, come Saturday night, was Mitsuyo Miyazaki’s heartbreaking ‘Tsuyako’, a tale of thwarted love in post-war Japan. Seriously… If the Iris Blogger had been watching this at home on DVD, he’d have had to do that “pretend-to-read-a-newspaper-so-nobody-can-see-you-crying” thing his Dad did at the end of ‘Shawshank Redemption’. This film was beautifully made, with excellent performances, and told a compelling story, and if that’s not a “triple threat” in a short film competition, I don’t know what is.
After a slap-up brunch at Flaming Dragon (we’ll ignore the possible connotations the word “Flaming” has for the Iris Blogger), we leapt into Programme 2 with aplomb.
Some great films here too, but if the Iris Blogger had to pick two favourites, they’d be ‘Hold On Tight’ (dir. Anna Rodgers), a gorgeously made documentary about public displays of affection; and ‘James Dean’ (dir. Lucy Asten Elliott). The latter, a short and sweet comic drama about a teenager’s burgeoning gender identity (and much more fun that I just made it sound) had great timing, great performances, and an ending that was both unexpected and welcome.
If there was a break between Programmes 2 and 3, the IB can’t remember it, but one thing is sure. Programme 3 will henceforth be known as “Programme 3: Sexy Time!” Either that, or “Programme 3: The Films You Wouldn’t Want Your Nan To See”. Whether it was the explicit and hilarious ‘Fuckbuddies’ (from Buzz Magazine cover star Juanma Carrillo) or previous Iris shortlister Hong Khaou’s claustrophobic and nerve-shredding ‘Spring’, there was plenty here to raise both eyebrows and heartbeats. The IB’s personal favourites were probably Tamer Ruggli’s ‘Cappuccino’, with its adorable and winning central performance by Benjamin Décosterd, and ‘Play Name’ (dir. Dave Snyder). The former is a handsome coming-of-age story (no pun intended), while the latter explores the emotional fallout from an American tourist’s trip to Thailand. Both are lovely.
The day was capped off with the screening of Casper Andreas’s ‘Going Down In La-la Land’. Casper’s possibly the hardest working man in US queer cinema (or maybe queer cinema full stop), and this is the fourth film he’s shown at Iris, following ‘Between Love And Goodbye’, ‘Big Gay Musical’, and last year’s ‘Violet Tendencies’. What’s been a joy, for those of us lucky enough to catch all of the above, has been watching him develop as a film-maker, each movie more polished and more confident than the last, and ‘La-la Land’ is easily the best film he’s made to date. And as if writing, directing and producing the film wasn’t enough, Casper also turns in a stunning supporting role as the main character’s Svengali-like lover. Talk about multi-tasking…
After a quick Q&A with our friend Philip Wyn Jones, it was off to The Kings, formerly ‘4-Play’ (I know… we name ’em subtly here in Cardiff), and the post-movie drinks reception. There was laughter, and drinking, and more laughter, and more drinking, and one of the Iris team learned (thanks to this blogger) that he once slept with a Hollywood star who has since jumped straight back into the closet. (This information is worth exactly 1 glass of Pinot Grigio, for those of you who are interested…)
Many of our guests moved on to Wow!, the only place to go when it’s 1am and you aren’t done pickling your liver. The Iris Blogger took a more sensible approach, however, and headed for home.
“There’ll be some sore heads in the morning,” he Tweeted, as he walked.
“Sore heads,” replied Iris team member Hannah James, “and sore…”
The suggestive dot-dot-dot hinting at who-knows-what. The Iris Blogger looks forward to finding out…
And so begins Day 3.
