Palestinian filmmaker wins LGBTQ+ film festival

A filmmaker from Palestine has won at the world's biggest LGBTQ+ fest festival.

Dima Hamdan won the prestigious award for her short film, Blood Like Water. She said she was, "deeply honoured to receive the 2024 Iris Film Prize".

The Berlin-based journalist's previous short film, The Bomb, won her 'Best Female Director' at the Ayodhya Film Festival in India.

Former Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price was a judge at the festival. He described the winning film as "an important reminder that queer people exist everywhere, including in Palestine at a time of war and occupation."

The judges commended the winning film for "its amazing acting and direction".

The Iris Film Festival is held in Cardiff every year and is the largest LGBTQ+ film festival in the world.

The organisers of the six-day event say it is a celebration of LGBTQ+ films and this year attracted 11,000 admissions.

Its director, Berwyn Rowlands, said, "I'm very proud that Iris is able to share stories not nescessarily covered by the mainstream. This years filmmakers have focused on the more serious aspects of LGBTQ+ life. Although many are dark, there is still hope".

The festival's 15 shortlisted films in the Best British Shorts category will be streamed on Channel 4.

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