Conservation Optimism is built on the belief that empowering everyone to make a difference for nature, while also learning from successes and failures, is key to securing our planet’s future.
We are calling all filmmakers to send us short films featuring stories of hope from around the globe. Have you been inspired by someone taking action for nature in your community? Have you witnessed some conservation successes? Have you learned from conservation failures? We want to hear from you!
Eligible films could…
- Include stories of how people relate to nature, or depict the wonder of life on earth
- Focus on the conservation of terrestrial and/or aquatic species and ecosystems
- Be told in a variety of formats, including animations or live action. Stop motion, 2D, 3D, celluloid, mixed media… The more creative, the better!
Our seventh film festival will take place on October 25th, 2025 at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH). We are very grateful to the OUMNH for hosting us, and look forward to seeing your submissions.
If you are a student, please email us at filmfestival@conservationoptimism.org stating your current course of study for a fee waiver password. We can also provide fee waivers in cases of financial duress.
1h to 1h30 mentoring sessions with experts!
Testimonials:
“Alli Sadegiani [2021 Mentor] was very generous with his advice and even offered an additional session to show me the ropes with a new animating software which he thought would help advance my work. I found it really enlightening to learn about life as a professional animator and how he was animating the characters in some of my favourite films!” – Lauren Cook, 2021 Overall Winner
“The Film Festival was a great experience! It was useful to be connected to the Conservation Optimism team and have our networks connect in a way that may not otherwise have happened. It was sad that we couldn’t do it in person at a physical event, but the virtual festival worked well and allowed our international audience to be involved as well. Having the mentoring session with Damon Gameau [2020 Mentor] was very useful. We are still in touch and opportunities are still developing from it, which is exciting. I hope to get involved again next year!” – Leo Plunkett, 2020 Conservation Optimism Film Winner
“In the mentoring session, Lucie Muir [2019 Mentor] gave me advice on my films, helped me get work experience on natural history programmes and helped me to make contacts. She is a wonderful person and gave me a great boost in the industry. And to this day, she is still looking out for me. I really could not imagine a better mentor!”- Yaz Ellis, 2019 Winner for Student Film
- July 2023
- July 2023
- July 2022
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Simon Dures
November 2021 -
Megan Hockin-Bennett
November 2021
