Official
Selection
A global launchpad for authentic storytellers and original stories across the world.
Submissions for the 2024 Official Selection are now open!
About the Selection
Introduced in 2020, our Official Selection showcases creative and bold stories that spark positive and restorative action for our natural world, acting as a global launchpad for new and diverse voices. From short and feature films to extended reality productions, these entries from amateur and experienced filmmakers alike are sure to inspire.
Our truly international selection is reviewed by a group of pre-selectors, then curated by a diverse team of programmers.
The Official Selection is separate from the Panda Awards, our industry- and craft-focused film competition.
Meet the Directors
You’ve watched the original stories on our film library, now meet the Directors behind them.
Wildscreen are releasing free-to-access Q&As on our YouTube Channel. Start watching today!
Trophies
Were you selected or an award winner for our 2022 Official Selection? Order duplicate certificates and trophies for the rest of your team before Fri 28 Oct.
☆ Film Screenings
After a two year hiatus, we’re excited to be hosting award-winning screenings in unique Bristol venues.
With world premieres on the cards, don’t miss this opportunity to watch original stories and participate in Director Q&As.
The screenings between 10-15 October are supported by the BFI, awarding funds from The National Lottery
Submitting Your Film
Submitting your film for consideration in Wildscreen’s 2024 Official Selection has never been simpler.
Now accepting submissions exclusively through Filmfreeway, our Earlybird submission discount window opens January 23rd, and will remain open till February 23rd.
Submissions will of course stay open after this date, though at a slightly higher price, until our final Late deadline closes on May 10th. So what are you waiting for? Get those submissions in!
Rules & Guidelines for 2024 submitters are listed on our Filmfreeway page, or you can read them in PDF format here.
Our Official Selection is split into two categories: short films, where we accept any film under 30 minutes, including immersive technologies (VR / AR), and Mid-length & Feature films, where we encourage any submitters who’s work clocks in over the 30 minute mark.
In 2024 we are on the lookout for stories reflecting one or more of the following:
– Authentic, Indigenous & Underrepresented Voices
– Biodiversity & Climate Change
– Interrelationships between Humans and Nature
– Next Generation of Stewards and Storytellers
– Solutions & Impact
Special Award Recipients
As part of our Official Selection, three special awards are also granted to outstanding productions which go out of their way to impress our programmers and audience.
These are the Programmer Prize, The Audience Prize, and Sustainable Merit, with the recipients of the Programmer Prize and Audience Award receiving a cash prize.
Important Submission Dates
- January 23rd – Earlybird Window Opens
- February 23rd – Regular Window Opens & Earlybird Window Shuts
- April 12th – Late Window Opens & Regular Window Shuts
- May 10th – Final deadline for entries
For more information see our Festival FAQs.
Submitting Your Film
Submitting your film for consideration in Wildscreen’s 2024 Official Selection has never been simpler.
Now accepting submissions exclusively through FilmFreeway, our Earlybird submission discount window is now open, and will remain open till February 23rd.
About The Official Selection
Our Official Selection is split into two categories: short films, where we accept any film under 30 minutes, including immersive technologies (VR / AR), and Mid-length & Feature films, where we encourage any submitters who’s work clocks in over the 30 minute mark.
In 2024 we are on the lookout for stories reflecting one or more of the following:
• Authentic, Indigenous & Underrepresented Voices
• Biodiversity & Climate Change
• Interrelationships between Humans and Nature
• Next Generation of Stewards and Storytellers
• Solutions & Impact
How To Enter
Before submitting your work, please review our competition Rules & Guidelines. You can also listen to them as an accessible audio recording.
All submissions can be made through our submissions portal on FilmFreeway.
Important Dates
- January 23rd – Earlybird Window Opens
- February 23rd – Regular Window Opens & Earlybird Window Shuts
- April 12th – Late Window Opens & Regular Window Shuts
- May 10th – Final deadline for entries
Special Award Recipients
As part of our Official Selection, three special awards are also granted to outstanding productions which go out of their way to impress our programmers and audience.
These are the Programmer Prize, The Audience Prize, and Sustainable Merit, with the recipients of the Programmer Prize and Audience Award receiving a cash prize.
The 2022 Selection
This year, Wildscreen is highlighting 32 productions which tell unique and original stories about our natural world created by authentic storytellers from over 16 countries across the globe.
Programme Chair, Lucy Mukerjee said, “the programming team and I had a remarkable experience curating the 2022 Wildscreen Official Selections, traveling all over the world via these eye-opening stories, following elusive species, discovering little known ecosystems, and witnessing the lengths that some are going to fight the climate emergency and restore the environment. “
Special Award Recipients
As part of our Official Selection, three special awards are also granted to outstanding productions which go out of their way to impress our programmers and audience.
The recipients of the Programmer Prize and Audience Award each receive a cash prize.
Programmer Prize – Panteras, Living Among Wild Cats (Spain)
Audience Award – Wild Romania (Romania)
Sustainability Merit –Jaguaretê – Avá – Pantanal in Flames (Brazil)
Full Official Selection
All That Breathes India
Before They Fall
Cam William MacArthur
United States
CAUGHT
Emma Silverstone-Segal
Canada
Exposure ☆
Holly Morris
Canada, US
Gondwana
Ben Joseph Andrews
Australia
HARRIER
Ciara Flint
United Kingdom
Hypha
Dir: Natalia Cabrera, Ex Pr: Selva Gonzalez
Chile
I Am Capable ☆
Roxy Furman
United Kingdom
Jaguaretê – Avá – Pantanal in Flames ☆
Dir: Lawrence Wahba Pr: Jefferson Pedace
Brazil
JOY
Aner Etxebarria Moral
Spain
LYNX ☆
Laurent Geslin
Switzerland
MIWENE ☆
Keith Heyward, Jennifer Berglund, Gange Anita Yeti Enomenga, Obe Beatriz Nenquimo Nihua
Ecuador
Mother of the Sea ☆
Nicolas Brown
Netherlands
My Garden of a Thousand Bees ☆
Dir: Dave Allen, Pr: Gaby Bastyra, Filmmaker: Martin Dohrn
UK
MYRIAD. Where we connect.
Michael Grotenhoff, Christian Zipfel
Germany
Panteras, living among Wild Cats☆
Andoni Canela
Spain
Path of the Panther
Eric Bendick
US
Rebellion
Maia Kenworthy, Elena Sánchez Bellot
United Kingdom
SATOYAMA Niigata: Living with Snow
Akihiko IDA
Japan
Saving Giraffes: The Long Journey Home
Dir: Tyler Austin Schiffman, Pr: Leslie Schwerin
Kenya
Shaba
Ami Vitale
Kenya/UK/US
Stories of You and I
John Davies
UK
The Age of Nature: Awakening
Peter Lown
UK
The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness
Florian Schulz, Myles Connolly
US
The Birdcarver
Felipe Rosa
Brazil
The Caretakers
Tom Hanner
United Kingdom
THE EGG – BURSTING INTO LIFE
Astrid Miller, Johannes Berger, Stephan Krasser
Austria
The Green Planet: Human Worlds
Elisabeth Oakham
UK
Tigre Gente
Trees for Tamarins
Whitney Beer-Kerr, Geoff Luck
United States
Whales in a Changing Ocean
Richard Sidey
New Zealand
Wild Romania
Dan Dinu, Cosmin Dumitrache
Romania
Enjoy the Stories
Many of our Official Selection films are available on the Wildscreen Festival event platform.
Virtual Passes are still available to book to enjoy the film library until 16 December.
Our programmers
We have assembled a diverse team of international programmers to curate our Official Selection. They curate our final selection of productions to showcase at the Festival.
Lucy Jane Mukerjee
Documentary Lab Director, Firelight Media
Lucy J. Mukerjee is a queer British-Indian cultural worker, dedicated to elevating the careers of underestimated storytellers, and leveraging the power of film to expand perspectives and shatter stereotypes. In 2023, Lucy became the Director of the Documentary Lab at Firelight Media, the premier destination for non-fiction cinema by and about communities of color, founded in 1998 by Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith.
Lucy’s 20+ years of industry experience include the roles of Director of Programming at Outfest and NewFest LGBTQ+ Film Festivals, and Senior Programmer at the Tribeca Festival. In 2019, alongside friends and colleagues from festivals worldwide, Lucy co-founded the Programmers Of Colour Collective, a global grassroots group of BIPOC film curators calling for transparency and accountability in the curatorial process.
Benn Wiebe
Owner/Executive Producer, HFP Productions
Benn is an Oscar Shortlisted and SXSW winning Producer who has championed natural storytelling across the creative landscape. Benn has created campaigns and helped convene initiatives for the United Nations in support of the UN Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, providing a unique expertise and understanding of global issues. Mobilizing people to impact social movement through stories is Benn’s personal mission.
Benn currently serves as the Executive Producer of HFP which runs film festivals across 13 countries. He is also a Mentor for SXSW, Creative UK, and for film schools including London Screen Academy, East London Arts & Music, and the National Film & Television School.
Chioma Onyenwe
Founder/Filmmaker, Raconteur Productions
Chioma Onyenwe is the founder of Raconteur Productions, an international film production company telling stories at the intersection of history, culture and identity. Her first narrative feature, 8 Bars & A Clef, was nominated for the 2016 AMAA, and her latest feature, ‘I do Not Come To You By Chance,’ premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2023 and won the Audience Choice Awards at the Africa International Film Festival 2023. She is a Creative Producer Indaba and EAVE fellow, a freelance film programmer, a deep sea diver, a burgeoning tennis player, and an avid swimmer.
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” I am thrilled to rejoin Wildscreen Programming team to celebrate earth’s beauty through film amidst challenging times.”
Wangechi Ngugi
Producer & Programmer
Wangechi Ngugi is a film producer, writer and curator based in Nairobi. With a deep belief in the transformative nature of storytelling, I strive to bring diverse narratives to the screen, amplifying voices and sparking meaningful conversations through the magic of film.
“Joining the Wildscreen Official Selection Programming Team this year presents an exciting opportunity to unveil nature’s cinematic marvels, celebrating its diversity in every frame. I’m thrilled to be part of this journey!”
Shaunak Sen
Director, All That Breathes
Shaunak Sen is an Academy award nominated filmmaker and writer based in Delhi. His film ‘All That Breathes’, received nominations at the 2023 Academy and BAFTA awards. The film won awards at Cannes, Sundance, BFI London, IDA and Cinema Eye, and 24 other film festivals. Cities of Sleep (2016), his first feature-length documentary, was shown at various major international film festivals and won 6 international awards.
Shaunak has received grants from Sundance, Tribeca, IDFA – Amsterdam amongst others. He has received the Pro Helvetia residency in Switzerland, the Sarai-CSDS grant, the Charles Wallace grant as visiting scholar at Cambridge University. Shaunak holds a PhD and has published in journals including Bioscope and Widescreen.
The pre-selectors
Our international team of pre-selectors are integral for analysing the high volume of submissions we received into our Official Selection. Their reviews create a shortlist of original productions which we then share with our programmers.
Aaron Sandhu Assistant Producer – Silverback Films
Anne Weinhold Business Development & Fundraising Manager – Royal Entomological Society
Carole Larsen Documentary Editor
Charlotte Bird Documentary Producer – Oxford Sparks
Coralie Migne Ecology and Evolutionary Biology MA Student & Wildlife Photographer
Darren West Natural History Cinematographer
David Pokupec Researcher – University of Maribor
Deirdre Denali Rosenberg Conservation Photography & Outdoor Writer
Eleanor Hamilton Wildlife Camerawoman
Elisabeth M.S. Oakham Producer / Director – Silverback Films
Evelyn Smalley Runner – BBC Studios
Evie Brudenall Distribution and Sales Executive – Magic Light Pictures
Helena Vilaplana Carnerero Producer & Film Programmer
Honey Crespo Documentary Filmmaker & Lecturer – Liverpool Hope University
Indigo Korres Director – Scottish Queer International Film Festival
Jeremy Hogarth Director/Writer – JPH Productions
Jessica Reiss Wildlife Filmmaker
Joe Galuszka Composer
Lana Young Visual Content Producer – NIWA
Laura Pennafort Wildlife Camerawoman
Lorelai Jo-hsuan Lin Development Associate – TAEA
Marete Selvin Producer/Co-Founder – Meraki Africa
Marina Hui Assistant Producer – BBC Studios
Nick Lord Researcher – BBC Studios NHU
Omar Manjouneh Documentary Filmmaker
Paula Kahumbu Wildlife Presenter / Producer
Pedro Wallace Producer / Writer / Director – Dragón de Fuego Cine SAS
Sabine Probst Documentary Filmmaker & NGO Director – Seen Blue
Samreen Farooqui Creative Head, Video – Roundglass Sustain
Samuel Obae Videographer / Photographer
Sarah-Jane Walsh Producer / Director – Moral Coral Films
Tania Dorrity Consulting Producer, PD & Edit Producer
Tania Esteban Assistant Producer – Wildstar Films
Tom Land Researcher – Silverback Films
Varun Manavazhi Editor – Felis Creations
Yoko Seki Field Producer – Wildlife Warriors
Tania Esteban Assistant Producer – Wildstar Films
Tom Land Researcher – Silverback Films
Varun Manavazhi Editor – Felis Creations
Share your Story
The Official Selection is part of Wildscreen Festival and will open call for entries again in January 2024.
Follow our page on FilmFreeway to receive updates.
