Wildlife filmmakers and storytellers, mark your calendars because the Wildscreen Panda Awards 2025 is now open for entries. For the primary time in its 43-year historical past the awards will turn out to be an annual occasion, reflecting the fast-evolving nature of wildlife storytelling and its pivotal position in addressing international environmental challenges.
Organized by Wildscreen, the UK-based not-for-profit behind the world-renowned Wildscreen Pageant, the Panda Awards celebrates excellent achievements in wildlife filmmaking and tv. This yr the competitors introduces a number of thrilling adjustments, together with the addition of recent classes designed to have fun short-form storytelling, elevate unbiased productions, and foster extra inclusive filmmaking practices.
One thrilling addition this yr is the Brief Panda Award, which welcomes productions beneath 20 minutes in size. This class displays the shift in how audiences eat media, notably youthful viewers who more and more have interaction with shorter-form content material on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
Brief movies are an artwork kind in themselves, requiring storytellers to craft impactful narratives inside a condensed runtime. Not like earlier years, this class opens the door for smaller creators and unbiased filmmakers who won’t have entry to studio budgets however possess compelling, necessary tales to inform. It is a possibility for creators on a decent funds to succeed in a worldwide viewers and have their work celebrated alongside business giants.
“Each different yr, since Wildscreen was based in 1982, the Panda Awards have celebrated the human endeavor, dedication, and distinctive storytelling talent that it takes to attach international audiences with nature,” explains Wildscreen CEO, Lucie Muir.
“For the primary time, we’re transferring to annual awards, reflecting the evolution of the business and the shift in tempo, platforms, storytellers, and audiences within the content material panorama. We additionally must push and platform the important position storytelling has in connecting international audiences with nature to drive motion in tackling the local weather and biodiversity crises.”
Along with the Brief Panda Award, the Unbiased Movie Panda Award, and In-Nation Manufacturing Panda Award supply two new alternatives. These classes acknowledge each productions made on decrease budgets with much less studio involvement and people made on location in-country with a minimum of 50% of the manufacturing group being in-country nationals. This continues to foster extra inclusive practices within the business.
Having attended the 2024 Panda Awards, I used to be in awe of the caliber of labor on show. The coveted Golden Panda Award, given to the general greatest manufacturing, went to Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story, written and directed by acclaimed photographer and visible storyteller Charlie Hamilton James. Now streaming on Disney+, this poignant documentary encapsulates the fragile bond between wildlife and humanity, underscoring the pressing want to guard our pure world. In the event you haven’t seen it but, I extremely advocate it.
The 2025 Panda Awards characteristic 17 classes, with all nominated movies eligible for the celebrated Golden Panda Award. Submissions at the moment are open, and early chook entries will obtain a reduced charge till 25 February 2025. The ultimate deadline for submissions is 17 April 2025, and entries will be submitted by way of FilmFreeway on the Wildscreen web site.
The awards ceremony will happen in Bristol, England, on October 22 2025, alongside a brand-new business summit hosted by Wildscreen. Additional particulars concerning the summit and Wildscreen’s rising worldwide presence, together with its 2025 African occasion, will probably be introduced within the coming weeks.
Because the Wildscreen Panda Awards transition to an annual occasion, it isn’t simply recognizing excellent wildlife filmmaking, by way of these movies, the awards join audiences to nature, encourage motion, and foster a worldwide group devoted to preserving our planet.
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