Heroes, Heartbeats, and Shorelines

• A dynamic collection of films that explore identity, transformation, and the unexpected connections that shape us, from superheroes to shorelines. As part of Iris on the Move 2025 that have been honoured and celebrated at the 2024 Iris Prize Film Festival.
• Programme duration: 70 minutes.

Teth
Director: Peter Darney
Producer: Beastly Media
Writer: Leo Drayton
Country: Wales
Duration: 12 minutes
Rating: 15
Crynodeb: Following surgery, Ioan and his father adapt to their new relationship as father and son, that is until the dog mistakes a nipple for a chew toy.

Where Are All the Gay Superheroes? (2024 Opening Night)
Director: Tom Paul Martin
Country: UK
Duration: 15 minutes
Rating: 15
Synopsis: Professional superheroes Sterling and Meridian have just finished saving the day (again) when suddenly, they find themselves in a rare moment alone. The suits come off, but when old tensions and old enemies return, our “heroes” learn the dark truth about who they are underneath.

Façade (Winner: 2024 Micro Short Award)
Director: Sophia Vi
Producer: Koupepia Films
Writer: William Shakespeare
Country: UK
Duration: 2 minutes
Rating: 12A
Synopsis: Following gender affirming facial feminisation surgery, a transgender woman contemplates what it means to be alive using the words of William Shakespeare’s most famous speech – ‘To be or not to be…’

Boys in the Water (Highly Commended, 2024 Iris Prize)
Director: Pawel Thomas Larue
Country: France
Duration: 39 minutes
Rating: 15
Synopsis: End of summer on the Breton coast. Oscar invites his group of friends to spend a week’s vacation at his grandparent’s house. He hasn’t been back to his childhood home for years – not since he came out as a trans boy. On the beach, the gang meets Malo, a handsome local guy, also trans. The story is about their meeting, which will turn everything upside down.