Luís Hindman Wins £40,000 Iris Prize for LGBTQ+ Film
Luís Hindman has won the £40,000 Iris Prize for Magid / Zafar, becoming only the third UK filmmaker to claim the award.
British filmmaker Luís Hindman has won the £40,000 Iris Prize for Magid / Zafar, earning one of the most significant awards in LGBTQ+ short filmmaking.
The winner was announced on 18 October at BBC Cymru Wales studios in Cardiff, during the 20th edition of the Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Hindman becomes only the third filmmaker from the UK to win the award, which is supported by the Michael Bishop Foundation.
Magid / Zafar follows tensions inside a Pakistani British takeaway, exploring the clash between tradition, identity and Western expectations. As Magid faces the future others have planned for him, he must decide whether to break away from the life he has always known or risk becoming trapped between competing expectations.
The film premiered in competition at the 2025 BFI London Film Festival before receiving a BAFTA nomination and winning the British Independent Film Award for Best British Short. It was supported by the BFI and Film4 through their Future Takes scheme.
The Iris Prize jury praised the film's energetic storytelling and its use of dialogue, pacing and tempo to draw audiences into the characters' emotions.
Hindman is now developing his debut feature with the BFI and Film4, building on the recognition his short film has received.
Three other films received special mentions from the jury: A Cappella by Marcin Kluczykowski, Black Shawl by Kamila Boichenko and Seahorse by Leo Tabosa.
The award marks a major achievement for Hindman and brings further attention to a British filmmaker whose work explores identity and the pressures of belonging.
