April 14, 2023
TUPILAK/ILGCN ORFEO IRIS AWARD PRESENTED IN STOCKHOLM
Stockholm -- After several years delay, the 2020 Tupilak/ILGCN "Orfeo Iris" award diploma -- for outstanding information work about Nazi and Neo Nazi persecution of LGBT people -- was finally presented via Zoom to Barbara Ludmilla Fröhlich and her colleagues of the antifacist committee of HOSI-Wien -- the LGBT organization of the Austrian capital of Vienna.
The event too place at the Goethe Institute in Stockholm, where director Jutta Gehrig spoke of the long and crucial struggle for LGBT rights and identity in Austria and elsewhere, and where the Austrian Ambassador, Doris Danier, praised the work of the Austrian award winners and others who have shared the Orfeo Iris awards.
Via Zoom, Barbara Fröhlich expressed thanks for the award, as did the committee colleague, Peter Sunk: "We are very honoured to receive this award on behalf of the Antifaschistische Komitee der HOSI Wien -- and we want to do this in memorial of Erich Zavadil, the founder of the Antifaschitische Komitee. We consider it very important to, remember, not to forget". Since the beginning of our association, antifacist activism was among others, an important part of our work.
"Each year we participate in the memorial of Mauthausen Concentration Camp. In 1984 the memorial stone for the homosexual victims Mauthausen was inaugurated. This only could happen because HOSI Wien activists didn’t relent campaigning."
Last Year's Ofeo Iris Winners Participating via Zoom
Participating in the event via Zoom were last year's Orfeo Iris winners, Swedish film director, Magnus Gerteen and Danish producer, Ove Rishoj Jensen of the documentary "Nelly & Nadine" a powerful documentary of two women who found each other in the Ravensbrüch concentration camp. They expressed their pride in winning the Orfeo Iris award as well as a number of other film festival awards. And they they are pleased to have been invited for a film screenings in a number of film festivals -
including at the courageous LGBT film festival in Beijing.
The trailer of the film was screened at the Goethe Institute event, with plans of screening the whole film in October during the 8th Nordic Rainbow History & Film Month in Stockholm.
2023 Orfeo Iris Award to Austrian
The event ended with the presentation of the 2023 Orfeo Iris award -- in the honour of the late Austrian survivor of the concentration camps, Heinz Heger, author of his powerful documentary of his survival in the concentration camps, "The Men with the Pink Triangle."
The award was presented to Claudia Barrett of the Austrian Embassy in Stockholm, for presenting "The Men with the Pink Triangle" at Sweden's major book fair, in the west coast city of Gothenburg.
Comments from Claudia:
Firstly and foremost, I want to say Thank you!!! for the fine and dignified award ceremony for Barbara Fröhlich, for making her feel so special, and for giving validity and visibility to her work which undoubtedly was achieved in a much more difficult environment than what we have in Sweden today. Knowing Austria, it was only after a lot of hard work and persistence that Barbara achieved the official recognition of the situation of Lesbian and Gay people in Austrian Concentration camps...
And secondly, thank you for – the complete surprise of - awarding me and the Austrian Embassy the 2023 Orfeo Iris Award!!!
I really hope that we will show ourselves worthy to have received this prize. I am really glad to have brought Heinz Heger to your attention, and it will be a fine gesture, as you were suggesting, to dedicate the award to him or to mention his name in connection with it."
Tupilak's chair, Sarah Guarino Werner, provided the Zoom link and Tupilak's Peter Fröberg was in charge of the events technical questions of sounds and film screening.
Bill Schiller of Tupilak/ILGCN pointed out that Orfeo Iris award winners come from Poland, Germany, Austria, UK, Czech Republic, USA, Sweden and Denmark.
"The award is named after the ancient Greek musician, Orpheus, whose music cold charm even the demons of the underworld and who was proud of his male lovers, including Calais -- a fellow sailor on the ship, the Argo. And "Iris"- the ancient Greek personification of the rainbow -- a messenger of the gods.
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| Barbara Ludmilla Froehlich - Austria |
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| Goethe Institute ABC |
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| Heinz Heger 333 Pink Triangle |
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| Nelly & Nadine |
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| Orpheus and Calais |
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Photos/logos: Daphne of GI, Peter, Bill, Claudia, Doris, Jutta, Barbara, "Nelly & Nadine," "Men" of Heinz Heger, Goethe Instiute logo, Orpeus, rainbow.
