Wildscreen PANDA AWARDS

Celebrating the Best in Natural World Storytelling.

Discover the Wildscreen Panda Award Nominees 2024.

Winners will be announced at the Wildscreen Panda Awards Ceremony on Thursday 17th October 2024.

Since 1982

The globally acclaimed Panda Awards, the ‘Green Oscars’ of the international wildlife film and TV industry, have sat at the heart of the Wildscreen Festival since 1982. They celebrate the very best in the natural world storytelling craft, and remain the highest honour in the industry.

The competition comprises of 14 categories and three special awards, including the coveted Golden Panda for the best overall production.

The 2024 competition also welcomes the return of the Children’s Award, recognising the importance of connecting younger generations with nature, and a new Special Recognition Award for Field Craft to recognise the skill, craft and importance of local, in-country field crew within the natural history genre.

  • Behaviour
  • *NEW Children's Award
  • Cinematography
  • Editing
  • Emerging Talent
  • *NEW Field Craft (Special Recognition)
  • Impact
  • Music
  • On-Screen Talent
  • Producer / Director
  • Production Management Team
  • Scripted Narrative
  • Series
  • Sound
  • Sustainability

Trophies

Were you nominated, selected or a winner for one of our competitions? Order duplicate certificates and trophies for the rest of your team before Fri 28 Oct.

Sponsored by Warner Chappell Production Music

We’re thrilled to announce that Warner Chappell Production Music as Headline Sponsor for this years Panda Awards at Wildscreen Festival 2024 on 14 – 18 October.

Warner Chappell Production Music provides an exceptional soundtrack to every story. Their diverse catalogue of 444,000+ tracks has every imaginable genre of music, as well as legacy Archive and Classical recordings.

Their in-house experts can support you throughout every step of your production process with personalised licensing advice, music curation, and bespoke composition tailored to your story.

”At Warner Chappell Production Music we know great stories don’t just happen. As the Panda Awards headline sponsor, we want to honour and celebrate nature’s symphony and all the exceptional hard work and effort Wildscreen’s incredible community goes into telling nature’s stories.”

– Lina Tebbs, Director of UK Production Music

Submitting Your Film

Submtting your film for consideration in Wildscreen’s 2024 Panda Awards 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.

Reasons To Enter

The world renowned ‘Green Oscars’ of the natural history industry recognise the very best in the craft of wildlife filmmaking and photography, selected by juries of industry experts across the globe.

Each category will receive 3 shortlisted nominations, who receive a certificate and laurel. The winning production will be announced at the Panda Awards Ceremony during Wildscreen Festival. Each winner will receive a bronze panda statue, winner certificate and laurel.

All submissions to the Panda Awards are in the running for the coveted Golden Panda Award given to the overall best production.

How To Enter

Before submitting your work, please review our competition Rules & Guidelines. All submissions can be made through our submissions portal on FilmFreeway.

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 Panda Awards 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. 

Reasons To Enter

The world renowned ‘Green Oscars’ of the natural history industry recognise the very best in the craft of wildlife filmmaking and photography, selected by juries of industry experts across the globe.

Panda Awards Laurel

Each category will receive 3 shortlisted nominations, who receive a certificate and laurel. The winning production will be announced at the Panda Awards Ceremony during Wildscreen Festival. Each winner will receive a bronze panda statue, winner certificate and laurel.

All submissions to the Panda Awards are in the running for the coveted Golden Panda Award given to the overall best production.

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
For more information see our Festival FAQs.

Field Craft (Special Recognition)

This brand new award recognises the skill, craft and importance of local, in-country field crew within the natural history genre. Nominated and judged by industry peers, the award will celebrate an individual such as field guide, driver and local conservationist who has made a significant contribution to the industry spanning a number of years and productions.

This special recognition award seeks to celebrate those with specialist skills that do not always receive the recognition they deserve. The award is entirely free and there is no cost involved in making a nomination.

Eligibility Criteria

• Individuals must be nominated by an industry peer in order to be considered for this award.
• The nominated individual must have worked on a minimum of three productions.
• We actively encourage nominees who’s specialist skill does not always appear in production credits.

Panda Awards 2024

Congratulations to the outstanding productions nominated for the 2024 Panda Awards.

Out of the 300+ submissions from 37 countries, these final 36 shorts, features and series shone the brightest, featured the very best craft and surprised our jury with their achievements.

Golden Panda Award Sponsored by Warner Chappell Production Music

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story

A Silverback Films Production for National Geographic

United Kingdom


Behaviour Award
Sponsored by Off The Fence

Raptors – A fistful of Daggers – Episode 1: Meet the Raptors

Terra Mater and Dandy Lion Films

Austria

Lions of the Skeleton Coast

Into Nature Productions 

Austria/Netherlands

Wild Secrets – Between Water and Woods

Doclights

Germany

Secret World of Sound with David Attenborough – Episode 2: Love and Rivals

Humble Bee Films and Infield Fly Productions

United Kingdom


Children's Award
Sponsored by Wildscreen ARK

A Real Bug’s Life – Episode: The Big City

Plimsoll Productions

United Kingdom

Dr Mark’s Animal Show

Wild Africa

South Africa/Nigeria

Save our Wildlife

Fresh Start Media

United Kingdom


Cinematography Award
Sponsored by Films at 59

Wild Isles: Ocean

Silverback Films

Photography: Doug Anderson Additional Photography: Bertie Gregory, Charlie Hamilton-James Darren Williams, Jacca Deeble, Jesse Wilkinson, Jo Charlesworth, Steven McGee-Callender, Tom Walker

United Kingdom

Unwavering

Chris Schmid Studio

Key Cinematography Credit: Chris Schmid

Switzerland

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story

A Silverback Films Production for National Geographic

Director of Photography: Charlie Hamilton James

Additional Photography: Johnny Rolt, Bertie Gregory

United Kingdom


Editing Award
Sponsored by National Geographic

Chimp Empire – Episode 1

Underdog, KEO Films, for Netflix

Key Editor: Sam Rogers

United Kingdom

Earthsounds

Offspring Films

Key Editor: Alex Boyle 

United Kingdom

Tiger

Disney Nature

Key Editor: Nigel Buck BFE

United Kingdom


Emerging Talent Award
Sponsored by BBC Studios Natural History Unit

Erica Rugabandana

For the film Living with Lions (Kuishi Na Simba)

Curiosity Stream, Ouragan Films, Siima Media

Tanzania

Hugh Allen

For the film The Thin Green Line

National Film & Television School

United Kingdom, Cyprus

Dan Short

For the film Intercellular

UWE

United Kingdom


Impact Award
Sponsored by Save Our Seas Foundation

PATROL

Juli Films, Perpetuo Films

Nicaragua, United States

We are Guardians

Appain Way, Random Good, Highly Flammable, Midia Indigena, One Forest

United States

RHINO MAN

The Global Conservation Corps

United States, South Africa


Music Award

Chimp Empire – Episode 1 

Underdog, KEO Films, for Netflix

Composer: William Goodchild

United Kingdom

Mammals – Forest

BBC Natural History Unit, BBC America, ZDF, Youku, France Télévisions for BBC

Composer: Thomas Farnon

United Kingdom

Living with Leopards

Wild Space Productions in association with Natural History Film Unit & Freeborne Media, for Netflix

Composer: Paul Leonard-Morgan

Additional music: Mike MacLennan

United Kingdom


On-Screen Talent Award
Sponsored by University of the West of England

Malaika Vaz

In Sacrifice Zone

Untamed Planet in association with the National Geographic Society

United States

Eoin Warner

In Ireland’s Wild Islands – Episode 3: Echoes of the Past

Crossing The Line Productions

Ireland

Hamza Yassin

In Hamza: Strictly Birds of Prey

Silverback Films

United Kingdom

Bertie Gregory

In Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory – Episode: Antarctic Killer Waves

Wildstar Films, National Geographic

United Kingdom


Producer / Director Award
Sponsored by Passion Planet

Charlie Hamilton-James & Jeff Wilson

For Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story

A Silverback Films Production for National Geographic

United Kingdom

Copy of Panda Award Nominees (10)

James Reed & Callum Webster 

For Chimp Empire – Episode 4

Underdog Films, Keo Films, for Netflix

United Kingdom

Thomas Winston

For Mollie’s Pack

Grizzly Creek Films and IMAX Original Documentaries

United States


Production Management Team Award
Sponsored by Humble Bee Films

Queens

Wildstar Films, National Geographic

Cleone Fox, Miranda Pincott, Tamsyn Black, Jodie Fowler, Melanie Thomas, Carlee Ann Davis, Kathryn Mavor, Rita Aspinall, Alice Beer, Fiona Capener, Charli Swinson, Jodie Fowler, Francesca Milano, Summer Paliunyte, Becca Rosenberg, Emma Warner, Rebecca Wootton, Mandy Knight, Linda Stephens

United Kingdom

Frozen Planet II

BBC Natural History Unit

Kate Horvath, Jane Greenford, Karmen Summers, Caroline Cox, Helen Bishop, Emily Humphrey, Ellie Pinnock, Ashley Noulty

United Kingdom

The Earthshot Prize 2023

Studio Silverback

Helen Healy, Claire Whitby-Smith, Laura Meacham, Jen Bollom, Gabi Domonkos, Eleanor Perryman, Jenna Winstanley, Sara da Luz Roberts, Elliot Jenkins, Tarryne Wills, Laurie Jones

United Kingdom


Scripted Narrative Award

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story

A Silverback Films Production for National Geographic

Key Scriptwriter(s): Charlie Hamilton James

United Kingdom

WILDING

Passion Planet, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios 

Key Scriptwriter: David Allen

United Kingdom

Tiger

Wildstar Films, Disney Nature

Key Scriptwriter: Mark Linfield

United Kingdom


Series Award
Sponsored by Doclights / NDR Naturfilm

Queens

Wildstar Films, National Geographic

United Kingdom

Planet Earth III

BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced by BBC America, ZDF, FTV and The Open University 

United Kingdom

The Great Rhino Robbery

BBC Studios Documentary Unit

United Kingdom

Australia’s Wild Odyssey

Wild Pacific Media

Australia


Sound Award
Sponsored by Films at 59

Secrets from a Forest

Sound Design: Joe Siddons, Simon Weir & Sound Team 

United Kingdom

Tiger

Wildstar Films

Sound Design: Kate Hopkins RDI, AMPS, Tim Owens, Ben Pearce, David E. Fluhr CAST

United Kingdom/India

A Call from the Wild

Artic Light co-produced by Doclights, in association with NDR, Terra Mater Studios, and SVT

Sound Design: Anders Tveten, Erik Watland

Re-recording mixer: Bent Holm, Anders Tveten

Norway/Germany


Sustainability Award
Sponsored by Aurum Kaleidoscope Foundation

The Watches 2023

BBC Studios Natural History Unit

United Kingdom

PIRARUCU, The Breath of the Amazon

Banksia Films

Brazil

Common Ground

Big Picture Ranch 

United States

Wild Isles: Saving our Wild Isles

Silverback Films

United Kingdom

Field Craft Special Recognition Award

Sammy Munene

“Sammy Munene is a specialist filming driver of unsurpassed skill, experience and wisdom. He has worked right across Africa, but specialises in his home country of Kenya, and has driven wildlife cinematographers for over 25 years.

He is second to none at getting a cameraperson in exactly the right place, at the right time, and is the first choice driver for a huge number of highly experienced cinematographers.” – Nominator

Chris Parsons' Outstanding Achievement Award

Jo Sarsby

Never afraid to go against the grain or take the difficult conversations head on to ensure fairness and morality for her clients, she’s built a name for herself as one of the most important, revered, sometimes feared, but always respected names in the industry.

She’s never brought up as a name in conversations about impact to our industry, but she should be up there with the biggest names for her work over the years.” – Festival Advisory Board Member

Lifetime Achievement Award

Alastair MacEwen

Alastair is one of the most modest people I’ve ever met, and yet his body of work, and the number of people he has worked with around the world, is massive.

So many people in our industry know him, and everyone I speak to always speaks highly of him.” – Festival Advisory Board Member 

Panda Awards Jury

Wildscreen has assembled industry experts across all crafts, fields and countries to help select the very best productions of the past two years.

We would like to thank our dedicated jury members for their time, expertise and careful consideration!

Final Jury

Once our nominees had been decided, our Final Jury were assembled to carefully deliberate the winner of each of our Panda Awards.

Vanessa Berlowitz (Chair)

Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Wildstar Films (UK)

Alex Soullier

Producer, Bonne Pioche (France)

Pragna Parsotam-Kok

Producer & Storyteller, NEWF (South Africa)

 

Richard Ladkani

Director & Cinematographer (Austria)

Ruth Berry

Director/ Producer (Austria)

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Nomination Jury

The first round of judging in the Panda Awards was coordinated by the Nomination Jury, a large international team of experienced judges, divided into category specialities, who reviewed each submission and agreed upon a top 3 nominees per award.

Ruth Berry (Chair of Nomination Jury)

"This year’s diversity of subject matter and film makers brought 700 entries from 38 countries. Covid continued to bring us closer to our own backyards, inspiring intimate storytelling experiences and some brave experiments... Judging hundreds of films and discussing their merits is challenging and time consuming. But judges unanimously agreed that it was a wonderful experience. "

Alex Tate

Head of Development, True to Nature

Andres Sehinkman

Director, Planta Alta

Aner Etxebarria Moral

Conservation and Anthropology Filmmaker

Ashwika Kapur

Director/Producer

Axel Drioli

Director/ Wildlife Sound Recordist, Sounding Wild

Barnaby Taylor

Composer, Barnaby Taylor Music Ltd. 

Candice Odgers

Editor/Producer, Think Lemonade Productions

Caroline Brett

Producer/Director/Writer, Shake the Tree Productions

Chris Scarffe

Director, Chris Scarffe Film & Photography Ltd

Ester De Roij

Shooting AP, BBC

Faith Musembi

Producer Director, Wildstar Films Ltd.

Georg Michael Fischer

Film Editor 

Hana Canter

COO, Wild Space Productions

Helen Wallbank

Production Manager, BBC Studios

Ivo Filatsch

Executive Producer, Terra Mater Studios

Jamie McPherson

Director of Photography

Jo Avery

João Paulo Krajewski

DOP, Natural History Brazil

Jolene Gallet

Production Manager

Jonny Gunton

Kat Gomero

Associate Video Producer, WCS

Laura Harris

Head of Development, BBC Studios NHU

Max Phillips

Commercial Operations Lead, Ecologi

Mel Rodrigues

Founder, Gritty Talent

Norio Matsumura

Producer, NHK Enterprises

Robert Hicks

Composer

Roger Webb

Executive Producer, BBC Studios NHU

Rosemary Edwards

Executive Producer, BBC Studios

Roser Canela-Mas

Sustainability Consultant for Film & TV

Rosie Thomas

Producer/Director, BBC Studios

Rutendo Shackleton

Natural History Presenter

Sabrina Scollan

Development Producer, True to Nature

Sarah Bright

Editor and DIT, Co-Founder at Cunning Media

Surane Weerasinghe

Digital Producer, Love Nature, Blue Ant Media

Photo Jury

Assembled to select the very best natural world stories for the Photo Story Award, our Photo Jury of esteemed experts spans across three continents and boasts award-winning photographers, head curators and visual narrative specialists. Thank you to our Photo Jury for selecting our incredible Photo Story Nominees!

Kaitlin Yarnall

(Photo Jury Chair) Chief Storytelling Officer, National Geographic Society

Azu Nwagbogu

Director, African Artists’ Foundation, LagosPhoto Festival, Artbase Africa

 

Ami Vitale

Photographer, National Geographic, Nikon

Laurent Ballesta

Photographer, Co-Creator,  Andromède Océanologie

Panda Awards Sponsors

Panda Awards Headline Sponsor

Panda Awards Category Sponsors

Panda Awards 2020 Winners Announcement

Last night’s Panda Awards was an exceptional evening celebrating the best of wildlife film making and photography talent in the world.

The recipient of the Golden Panda award, the most coveted international prize in the international wildlife film and TV genre, was My Octopus Teacher, produced by Sea Change Project and Off the Fence; A Netflix Original Production – a moving account of wildlife cameraman Craig Foster’s journey to improved mental health. He began free diving in a cold underwater kelp forest off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. It was here he befriended a common octopus, hiding in plain sight within a jumble of shells on the sea floor, and the film outlines the blossoming of their relationship.

Sea of Shadows, produced by Terra Mater Factual Studios in association with Appian Way, Malaika Pictures, The Wild Lens Collective for National Geographic Documentary Films, was the winner of two awards. The Audio Network Music Award and the Doclights/NDR Naturfilm, Producer/Director Award. The film followed a multinational team of scientists, activists, journalists and undercover agents who go up against drug cartels and illegal traffickers to save the Vaquita, the most endangered whale on earth.

An additional award, the Panda in the Pocket was given to Dynasties: Chimpanzee the first episode in the series produced by BBC Studio’s Natural History Unit.

The judges decided that there had to be two winners of the Nat Geo WILD Series Award. H20: The Molecule that Made Us, produced by Passion Planet Ltd and WGBH Boston for PBS – a landmark series that tells the human story through our relationship to water. The second recipient was Seven Worlds One Planet, produced by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, BBC America, France Télévisions, ZDF, Tencent Penguin Pictures and China Media Group CCTV9, in which David Attenborough reveals the mind-blowing marvels of our seven continents.

The ORF Production Team Award, recognising the art of collaborative working by the teams behind the best of natural history films, was given to the Plimsoll Production Team for Night on Earth: Dusk Till Dawn, a series focusing on the how the night unfolds to reveal the magic in the air, drama in the deep and danger on the ground as animals around the globe arise with the sunset.

David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet, produced by Silverback Films and WWF for Netflix, is a film that outlines Attenborough’s witness statement, vision for the future and how we can work with nature to overturn the climate emergency, walked away with the NHK Scripted Narrative Award.

Sue Martineau, Interim Wildscreen CEO said: “This year’s awards highlight the importance of capturing diminishing biodiversity and the urgency of tackling climate change on film. Optimism and providing solutions around conservation stories were also a running theme throughout the entries, finalists and winners of the 2020 Panda Awards competition. We were thrilled with the exceptionally high calibre of entries this year. The importance of these films and photos are as crucial as ever to share extraordinary and impactful stories.”

The full roll of Wildscreen Panda Award winners is:

Golden Panda – My Octopus Teacher – Recipient: Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed

Audio Network Music Award – Sea of Shadows Recipient: H. Scott Salinas

Panda in the Pocket – Dynasties Chimpanzee Recipient: Rosie Thomas

Aurum Photo Story Award Recipient: Brent Stirton for Pangolins in Crisis

The Nat Geo WILD Series Award – 1st Winner H20: the Molecule that Made Us

The Nat Geo WILD Series Award – 2nd Winner Seven Worlds One Planet

ORF Production Team Award –  Night On Earth: Dusk Till Dawn Recipient: Plimsoll Productions

UWE Editing Award – Disney Nature Penguins Recipient: Andy Netley

Icon Films Emerging Talent – Clorofilia Recipient: Andrés Sehinkman, Jonathan Barg, Leandro Vital, Armin Marchesini Weihmuller and Ailín Salas

NHK Scripted Narrative Award – David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet Recipient: David Attenborough with Jonnie Hughes

Dolby Cinematography Award – Our Planet: One Planet Jamie McPherson, Roger Horrocks, John Aitchison, Paul Stewart, Gavin Thurston, Warwick Sloss, Mateo Willis, Sophie Darlington, Matt Aeberhard

Dolby Sound Award – The Flood Recipient Richard Lambert and Roy Noy

Doclights/NDR Naturfilm, Producer/Director Award Recipient: Richard Ladkani, Walter Köhler and Wolfgang Knöpfler for the film Sea of Shadows