Competition

 

With over 60 years of space exploration at your fingertips – from the first Apollo flights to the latest Rover shots – your mission is to flex your creative muscles and create something truly unique. Using NASA imagery, we're looking for films of any type and any format - that means traditional narratives, experimental expressions, documentaries, comedies, dramas, animated pieces, ambient visuals, music videos, re-mixes, VJ sets, even sci-fi or horror stories, and more.

 

The key thing is that your short is based on innovative and artistic storytelling, provokes an emotional response, and showcases a mastery of filmmaking, editing, and/or animation. You can submit up to 5 short films to this competition. Submissions are due by Friday, July 15th at 12pm PT. To submit, make sure you're signed into your Tongal account and click on the blue 'Submit Video' button at the top of this page. The countdown clock for the submission deadline automatically adjusts to your timezone.

 

Films will be judged on their creativity, innovation, and attention to detail – the hallmarks of spaceflight itself. Submissions must be 10 minutes or less (including credits) and comprised of at least 10% NASA imagery and/or footage, which is based on the film's total runtime, excluding credits. While some footage is iconic, the judges appreciate seeing material that has not been used in previous competitions. NASA-owned imagery may be sourced from the NASA archives or any publicly available source (see an up-to-date list here).

 

Films selected as "Finalists" will be screened at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival in November 2022, where a special ceremony will take place for attending filmmakers and the following awards will be announced during the screening: 

 

AWARDS: The Selection Committee and Competition Judges (collectively the “Jury”) will award the following prizes:

 

Grand Prize: USD $10,000

Second Prize: USD $5,000

Third Prize: USD $3,000

 

SPECIAL JUDGING CATEGORIES AND AWARDS:  In addition to the above awards, the Jury may also award two Special Category prizes. They are looking for submissions that elevate the featured themes using creative and original cinematic and/or storytelling techniques. If the jury feels that a submission meets these criteria, the submission may be considered for these awards. If no submissions sufficiently meet the criteria, these categories may not be awarded this year. 

 

Film That Best Depicts Diversity & Inclusion: USD $4,000

On October 18, 2020, history was made when NASA Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch performed the first all-woman spacewalk in support of space station assembly, the first to be conducted entirely by women. This significant milestone celebrates NASA's mission as we look forward to putting the first woman and next man on the Moon. This award celebrates stories following underrepresented individuals in science and space exploration. This category is designated for the film that recognizes the contributions to science and innovation that diversity brings. This award is all-inclusive and is not limited to the accomplishments of just women in space. Filmmakers are encouraged to dive deep into NASA's archives and unravel innovative moments in technology and science.

 

Education Film That Inspires the Next Generation to Join the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Workforce: USD $4,000

Produce a short educational film (instructional, promotional, scholastic, etc.) aiming to inform school-aged children about NASA’s current plans for one or more of the following: Aeronautics Artemis Program, Being a Part of the Artemis Generation, Earth Observations and Climate, Human Space Exploration, Mars Exploration, Solar System Exploration.

 

Please reference the prizing above, as the Project Funding breakdown at the top of this page automatically lists the prizing numerically rather than by ranking or category.

 

Finalist films may also screen at other events across the country, shown on NASA TV, and on the International Space Station!