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Sharing Solutions: Third Annual Student Sustainability Film Festival

The 2012 Student Sustainability Film Festival is now encouraging and accepting entries from high school and college students across North America. Students create short films about programs, projects or “things” that their campus or community is doing to create sustainable solutions to environmental concerns. Last year's "Best in Show" came from Michigan State University.

The films should be inspired by real-life events, issues or solutions. For example, has your campus put up a wind turbine? Or, students could examine how and if their school is encouraging alternative modes of transportation, or could consider how their college’s food services has chosen to reduce waste. The Film Festival will culminate in May 2012 with a weekend of screenings, seminars and an award ceremony in Portland, Oregon. Students will be awarded cash prizes for top-ranked submissions, as determined by an esteemed board of noted judges and filmmakers, including Curt Ellis, producer of “King Corn” and Matt Martin, editor for “No Impact Man.” Each winning film is awarded a $1,000 cash prize.

All final selections will be screened at a public event in Portland, Oregon in late May 2011 and prizes will be awarded that evening for the following categories: “Best in Show” (high school and college categories; cash prize); Individual Judge’s Acknowledgement; and Audience Favorite.

Guidelines

Entries are due either in DVD format or submitted online no later than 11:59 PM, May 17, 2012. Students submitting films online should post their entries either on YouTube or an accessible website, and submit the URL to phil@nwisc.com
Students submitting DVD entries must submit three copies to: Media Institute, c/o Phil Busse, Executive Director / 3007 NE 8th / Portland, OR 97212.
Each film must include â€œproduction notes,"Â which contain contact information and also list each person involved in the film's production. If you received help from faculty members or outside sources, please acknowledge them here. This information may be submitted as a separate Word document (or printed information) or may be included as closing credits.
Students may not pay consultants outside their institutions (students may pay appropriate travel expense for mentors or may offer minimal stipends to university employees to assist in the logistics of their production)
Students will be invited to attend the festival, but will be responsible for their own transportation and lodging costs. Students will be encouraged to request funds from their host institutions.
Film length must be shorter than 8 minutes in complete length, including title cards and credits
Submissions should clearly articulate what the “problem” is, and present a critical analysis of the “solution.” You may also chose to produce a fictional film that picks up one of these themes, or even produce an “instruction” video

In so many ways, today’s young filmmakers are fulfilling the role of protest singers from the '60s—especially in the environmental field. The blockbuster “An Inconvenient Truth” pushed forward environmental policies, inspired lifestyle changes and showed that there is a wide-reaching audience (and commercial viability) for environmental films. In the years since then, the environmental documentary has become its own genre—with well-received movies like “King Corn,” where a then-recent college graduate Curt Ellis moved to Iowa, purchased an acre of corn field and (humorously) traced how this product is a prevalent and wasteful use of resources.

We hope that you or your students will take this opportunity to join this growing group of concerned and engaged filmmakers.

How to Apply

Download this application » (pdf)