Jury 08 Iris Prize

Jury 08

Below are the members of the International Jury for the Iris Prize 2008.

Tom Abell, Distributor

Tom started his career as a videotape editor at Rank, before moving onto Doublevision part of the MGMM group, responsible for many of the 80’s big pop promos for artists such as David Bowie and Duran Duran. In 1992 he started Dangerous to Know, the 'world's first distribution' company dedicated to lesbian and gay films. In 2000 Tom formed Peccadillo Pictures, and was instrumental in the development of TLA Releasing in the USA. He occasionally produces for film or TV, including the short film Summer, which was shortlisted the 2007 Iris Prize.

Casper Andreas, Director

A native of Sweden, Casper Andreas formed his own production company, Embrem Entertainment, in 2004 and wrote, produced, directed and starred in its first feature, the gay romantic comedy Slutty Summer. This was followed up by the short film Mormor's Visit in 2005, and the multi-award winning comedy A Four Letter Word in 2006. After playing over 60 film festivals around the world the film was released theatrically in the US. Andreas directed his first dramatic feature Between Love & Goodbye in the fall of 2007, and is currently working on several upcoming projects.

Simon Russell Beale, Actor

Simon Russell Beale is an Associate Artist of the RSC, National and Almeida Theatres. RSC performances include ‘Konstantin’ in The Seagull and ‘Ariel’ in The Tempest. Numerous productions at the National Theatre include Hamlet, winning the Evening Standard Best Actor Award. Simon starred in Monty Python’s Spamalot in New York and London and his television work includes A Dance to the Music of Time for which he won the Royal Television Society Award and a Bafta for Best Actor. In 2003 Simon was awarded a CBE for his services to the Arts.

Jonah Blechman, Actor

Working in the entertainment industry for over 25 years, Jonah Blechman has acted, produced and directed in film, television, and commercials. He starred in This Boy’s Life opposite Leo DiCaprio, Fall Time with David Arquette, and 1999’s Sundance Special Jury Prize Winner Treasure Island. He executive produced and starred in the 2006 cult comedy feature Another Gay Movie, produced Sessions starring Jeremy Sisto and Josh Lucas, and he plays the lead in Another Gay Sequal: Gays Gone Wild, which opens later this year.

Nia Dryhurst, Director

Born in Caernarfon, Nia worked as an actor before taking up her role behind the camera. After studies at the European Film School in Denmark, a period working in the film industry in Berlin and an MA in Directing from Bristol University, Nia moved back to Wales where she has been directing and producing for the last 9 years. Married to Karen, they have a young two-year-old son. Nia won the Bafta Cymru Best Director award for her film, Fel Arall (closing film of the Iris Prize Festival in 2007).

Johann Hari, Journalist

Johann Hari is an award-winning journalist who writes for the Independent, New York Times, Le Monde, and The Guardian, amongst many other international newspapers and magazines. In 2007 he was named Newspaper Journalist of the Year by Amnesty International for his reporting on the war in Congo. His first book, 'God Save the Queen?' was published in 2003, and his play 'Going Down in History', was performed at the Garage Theatre, Edinburgh in 2002 to critical acclaim. He is now a Senior Contributing Editor to Attitude, Britain's best-selling gay magazine.

Yair Hochner, Director

Yair Hochner made his directorial debut from his own original script with Good Boys (Yeladim Tovim) which became a hit on the festival circuit and won awards in LA, New York, Montreal and Tampa. He has taught cinema for five years in Netania and moonlights as a film critic for Israel’s leading website on cinema, Seret. In June, 2006 Yair co-founded the first LGBT Film Festival in Tel Aviv, and is currently making preparations for the 2009 festival. His second feature Antarctica is nominated for the Queer Lion in 2008 Venice Film Festival.

David Pearce, Programmer

David Pearce has recently celebrated 10 years at Queerscreen, in Sydney, who present the annual Mardi Gras Film Festival and QueerDOC, the world's first queer documentary film festival. David started on the board and was Vice President of Queerscreen before becoming Festival Programmer. Prior to Queerscreen, David was editor of Australian industry magazines, Movie Trader and Video Trader. Over the years he has had extensive experience as a film critic and film writer and is a member of the Film Critics Circle of Australia and FIPRESCI (the international film critics’ association).

Dee Rees, Iris Prize winner 2007

Award-winning writer/director Dee Rees is a recent alumna of New York University’s graduate film program and a 2007 Sundance Screenwriting Lab Fellow. She has written and directed several short films, including Pariah, which has screened at over 40 festivals including the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and garnered several accolades including the inaugural Iris Prize Award in 2007. She is currently wrapping post-production on a feature documentary on Liberia titled Eventual Salvation as well developing Parish as a feature film project.

Gwion ap Rhisiart, Film reviewer

Gwion worked in the film industry for four years and was responsible for sales and distribution of over 100 short films world-wide. He has programmed numerous short film and feature programmes for various film festivals including Umea, Clermont-Ferrand, Hamburg and Cardiff. He is a regular film reviewer with the BBC’s online service, as well as writing reviews for the national newspaper of Wales, The Western Mail, and has sat on the judging panel for the short films and animation categories for the Bafta Wales Awards.

Todd Stephens, Director

Todd Stephens made his directorial debut with Edge of Seventeen, based on his coming-out experience and filmed in his hometown in Ohio. It won numerous prizes including Best Picture at the San Francisco International L&G Film Festival. Gypsy 83, Stephens’ follow up to Edge, went onto gain critical acclaim as well as a theatrical release. His third feature, Another Gay Movie became the most successful gay indie films of recent years and its follow up Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! will be making its European premiere as part of this year’s festival.

Lewis Tice, Distributor

For three years Lewis lived out of a suitcase handling publicity on the film festival circuit, which had him flying off to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Sundance before he eventually settled in Philadelphia. Currently he is the National Press Liaison for TLA Releasing, handling publicity and marketing for theatrical and DVD releases in the US. Passionate about all aspects of culture, especially "pop," Tice’s writings have been featured on America Online, PlanetOut.com and A Bear’s Life magazine.

Jury Chair:

Elan Closs Stephens

Elan Closs Stephens is Professor of Communications and Creative Industries at Aberystwyth University’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television. From 1998 - 2006, Elan was Chair of the S4C Authority and was a Governor of the British Film Institute until 2007 and Chair of its Audit and Governance during the major refurbishment of the Southbank National Film Theatre. She received a CBE in 2001 for services to broadcasting and the Welsh Language and is currently on the Board of the British Council and the Film Agency for Wales.