The One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest that started in Oak Park and River Forest 12 years ago will host a global awards celebration Sept. 22.
The event will take place at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 22 at the Gene Siskel Film Center at 164 N. State St. in Chicago or can be viewed online. Tickets can be reserved online, and are free for in-person attendees and $5.50 for virtual participants. Doors open at 11 a.m. Free popcorn and drinks are available.
When this filmmaker contest first started, organizers received about 20 local submissions, according to Lisa Biehle Files, the contest program director. This contest asks students aged 8 to 25 to create a three- to eight-minute environmental film, she wrote in an announcement. Films can be a minimum of 45 seconds if they are animated or stop-motion.
Over the past year, they’ve had 400 submissions from 55 countries and 36 states. Of those submissions, 221 were from the United States, 22 were from the United Kingdom and 20 were from India, making up the top three most common countries for submissions. In the United States, the top three states to send submissions from were California at 77, New York at 18 and Illinois at 16.
Winners were selected from Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Poland, the United Kingdom, California, Florida, Illinois and Virginia. The winners will have their shorts screened during the celebration.
Adam Joel, an improv comedian and co-founder of Aggressively Compassionate, will host the event. Loyola University will be recognized for teaching young people on the island Kiribati to tell stories about sea level rise, according to Files. And the University of Chicago Laboratory School student Edith Zhou Huffman will be recognized for her film “Magicicada.”
“Once again there is a variety of wonderful films, from emotional and poignant to humorous and hopeful,” said Sue Crothers, the founding director. “From environmental justice, to appreciating the beauty of nature, these films tell us that we are all responsible for where we are but also for where we can be.”
A special screening for those in southeast Asia and the pacific will take place online at 11:30 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time on Sept. 22.
The deadline for the next year of submissions is May 25, 2025. In January 2025, a jury of 31 film and environmental experts will start evaluating submissions. Different entry level winners can get prizes ranging from $100 and a matching grant to $1,000 and a matching grant.