Earth Stories
Young filmmakers aged 14-25 years old are being invited to submit their work for an international film festival and competition run by Keele University staff and students.
The Earth Stories Film Festival will be taking place on the 27th of March 2025, at the Michell Arts Centre,
Earth Stories Film Festival is a Keele University based environmental film festival aimed at young filmmakers (14-25 years old). The festival is a student-led initiative that provides a platform for students and young filmmakers from across the world to showcase their filmmaking talent. The event is managed by students from across the university and supported by staff from across academic disciplines. The festival will present new and inspirational stories addressing the climate crisis, nature's degradation, and highlight pathways for sustainable futures through human-nature reconnections. This festival was originally funded by former Keele University students through the Alumni Keele Key Fund.
The following prizes will be awarded at the Earth Stories Film Festival:
- Animation Award £100
- Experimental Award £100
- Documentary Award £100
- Fiction Award £100
- Young Film Award (14-16 Years old) £100
- Local Filmmaker Award (Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire) £100
2025 Nominations will be posted Friday 14 February 2025.
Rules and terms
Submission criteria
- Submissions must be sent via the FilmFreeway Site.
- Entrants must be between 14 and 25 years old.
- Any genre is accepted. However, any film containing a strong adult element (profanity, sex, gore, drugs & violence) will be rejected.
- All submissions are not required to pay an entry fee.
- Submission deadline 6th January 2025.
- Films must be between 1 minute and 10 minutes.
- All films must be in English or with accurate English subtitles. We encourage the use of British Sign Language interpretation.
- Submitters to the Local Filmmaker category comply with the rule that their address, whether main residence or term time, must be within the counties of Staffordshire, Cheshire or Shropshire. This applies to University students who are studying within these three counties.
Terms and conditions
Our terms and conditions apply to all competitions unless otherwise stated. By entering Earth Stories Film Festival, you agree to the following conditions:
- Entrants must be between 14 and 25 years old.
- The organizers reserve the right to amend the end date at any time.
- Competition finalists/winners will be notified after the closing date.
- By entering the competition, the winner agrees to participate in the promotional activity where required.
- Prizes are non-transferable to another person.
- If the advertised prize becomes unavailable the organizers reserve the right to offer an alternative prize of equal or higher value.
- By entering competitions, you agree to be contacted for promotional purposes.
- No personal data will be shared with third parties unless stated otherwise.
- The organizers reserve the right to amend or withdraw competitions at any time.
- Competitions hosted on social media are in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by Facebook or Twitter.
- You agree to submit contributions which are your own original work. You must be the copyright holder. You must not violate, plagiarise, or infringe any copyright, trademark, trade secrets, privacy, publicity, or personal or proprietary rights.
- If you submit a contribution, you agree to allow the organizers to use the material in your contribution in any way it may reasonably choose on a free-of-charge basis in any media throughout the world.
- Any copyright in your contribution will remain with you and this permission is not exclusive, so you can continue to use the material you contribute in any way, including allowing others to use it.
- If you are from Staffordshire, Cheshire, or Shropshire, please submit your film to the Local Filmmaker category only.
Submission requirements
- Online submission only (DVD, Blu Ray and flash drive submissions are not accepted).
- Video format must be Apple ProRes 422, ProRes 4444 or H.264. Video file size cannot exceed 10GB. VR/360 videos are not accepted.
- Submitter must provide a still image from the film (minimum image specifications: 300dpi, JPGs or JPEGs only).
Venue
Mitchell Arts Centre
Broad Street
Hanley
England ST1 4HG
United Kingdom
Opening date: Monday 9 September 2024.
Regular deadline: Monday 6 January 2025.
Notification date: Friday 14 February 2025.
Event date: Thursday 27 March 2025.
Categories
- Animation
- Documentary
- Fiction
- Experimental
- Young Film (14-16 Year Olds)
- Local Filmmaker (Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire and Keele students)
Organisers
Emily Stevenson - Festival Director and Founding Member
Aaliyah Gibbings-Gardner - Community Co-ordinator and Founding Member
Liam Salmon - Assistant Director
Katherine Chapman - Assistant Director
Holly Martella - Design Lead and Social Media Manager
Connie Bradwell-Moore - Social Media Management
Joseph McLeod - Technical Director
Amelia Walton - Chair of the Senior Judging panel
James McAteer - Founding Member and Academic Lead