Biography:Paul Rice is an Irish filmmaker and art director based in San Francisco, working across documentary and experimental cinema. His work explores the intimate politics of belonging, the strength found in otherness, and the ways people build lives beyond systems of power. His debut feature documentary, A Worm in the Heart (2020), follows encounters with LGBTQ+ communities across Russia. It premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and screened internationally at festivals including the Dublin International Film Festival, WATCH DOCS in Warsaw and the Calgary International Film Festival. The film won Best Documentary jury awards at Miami’s OUTshine Film Festival and New York’s ImageOut Film Festival, alongside OUTshine’s audience award. In 2021, it was shortlisted for the Irish Council for Civil Liberties’ Human Rights on Film Award at the Dublin International Film Festival. His experimental film The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions (2026), shot on Hi8 in the San Francisco Bay Area, premiered at Frameline50 and had its international premiere at Queer Lisboa. Alongside filmmaking, Rice maintains an international practice in advertising and art direction, having worked across Dublin, London and San Francisco.
