GENERAL
The Wildscreen Official Selection (“Official Selection”) is part of the 22nd Wildscreen Festival (“Festival”).
The Official Selection is managed and presented by Wildscreen, a charity based at Unit 1.11, Temple Studios, Temple Gate, Bristol BS1 6QA, UK (“Wildscreen”).
Submission of a film Production (“Production”) to the Official Selection is subject to and conditional on the Entrant (defined below) accepting these Rules and Wildscreen does not accept any submission on any other basis whatsoever.
ELIGIBILITY
The Official Selection is open to new or established broadcasters, film or television Production companies/distributors and independent filmmakers from anywhere in the world ("Entrants"). All entries for the Official Selection are made subject to these Rules.
To be eligible, a Production ("Production") must:
have an aspect of the natural world as the central focus
be completed on or after 1 March 2025
not have been entered into a previous Wildscreen Official Selection or Panda Awards Competition
be submitted by the producer or distributor of the film (or their authorised representative)
Productions entered into the Official Selection do not need to have been broadcast prior to their entry, nor do they need at the date of entry to have a future transmission date, and if screened at the Festival they do not need to be a premiere festival screening. Preference will be given to world, European and UK premieres but films may have been screened at any number of festivals or other public theatrical exhibitions anywhere in the world, broadcast or streamed on television or the Internet, and/or released via any home video or other public distribution platform and be eligible for consideration.
Rough cuts are accepted if it is guaranteed that the production will not change in essence on completion and the final cut will be available early September 2026. The most up to date cut must be shared by the late deadline for consideration.
Productions in languages other than English are welcome but must be subtitled or dubbed into English. Alternatively, the screener copy must be accompanied by an English script with a time code. If nominated for an award or screening, a copy of the Production must be provided by the Entrant with English dubbing or subtitles.
Sponsorship of Productions may be acknowledged in copies submitted for the Official Selection but submission of copies of Productions incorporating advertising is not permitted.
Productions of all lengths, crew sizes and budgets are accepted in the Official Selection. All of the above factors will be taken into consideration during the preselection and programming process.
Entries are categorised as:
Mid-length & Feature films (20 mins+)
Short films (20 mins or under including credits)
Entries that are emerging technologies or platforms such as VR, AR etc, should be entered via the short film category and be clearly labelled as such.
To ensure the Official Selection is as inclusive as possible the previewing and programming teams will take budget and country of Production into consideration.
We welcome multiple submissions. Each submission will require a separate entry and submission fee submitted via Film Freeway.
ENTRY FEES & GUIDELINES
Earlybird
11 Dec 2025 - 24 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT
£60 Mid-length & Feature films (20+ mins) *
£30 Shorts (1-20 mins or under including credits) *
Regular
23 Feb - 16 April, 12:00 BST
£90 Mid-length & Feature films (20+ mins) *
£45 Shorts (1-20 mins or under including credits) *
Late (accepted at Wildscreen’s discretion)
13 April - 13 May, 23:59 BST
£135 Mid-length & Feature films (20+ mins) *
£70 Shorts (1-20 mins or under including credits) *
* Prices include VAT where applicable. A VAT invoice is available upon request for UK-based entries.
Wildscreen NatureStory members receive a 10 percent discount on submissions and NatureStory Pro members are not subject to late entry fees. Member discount codes can be accessed on the resources page of the NatureStory platform here.
Please note that FilmFreeway offers a reduced price fee for submitters who are subscribed to their Gold Membership plan.
Fees must be paid for the current deadline window at the time of submission via the FilmFreeway platform. Fees are charged in GBP British Pound and can be paid by credit/debit card or PayPal.
Submission fees are non-refundable.
Discounted Entries
Discounts are available for DAC listed ODA recipient countries. The Entrant must reside in a qualifying country and the billing address will be accepted as the country of eligibility.
Least Developed Countries will receive complete waivers.
Lower Middle Income Countries and Territories will receive a 50% discount on submission fees.
Upper Middle Income Countries will receive a 25% discount on submission fees.
Retrospective discounts cannot be made.
Dates
11 December 2025 Entries open at filmfreeway.com/WildscreenFestivalOfficialSelection
24 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT Earlybird submission deadline
16 April, 12:00 BST Regular submission deadline
13 May 2026, 23:59 BST Late submission deadline (accepted at Wildscreen’s discretion)
August 2026 Official Selection Announced
17-22 October 2026 Productions screened as part of Wildscreen Festival public screening programme.
Submission Process
All Official Selection submissions will be accepted via FilmFreeway. Entrants are able to submit via FilmFreeway Wildscreen Festival Official Selection. For information on how to use the platform please visit the FilmFreeway FAQs.
All submissions must be accompanied by the required enclosures as follows:
completed online submission form, including Production details, synopsis and credits and current contact details of Entrant
A online screener copy of the Production
additional documents such as cue sheets or scripts uploaded to FilmFreeway project (if applicable)
payment of fees for submission of the Production for the Official Selection ("Fees")
Submission materials will not be returned. Wildscreen reserves the right to reject submissions that are incomplete.
Production partners: All partners involved in a Production must be credited in the submission form and it is the responsibility of the Entrant to notify all their Production partners of the submission. Wildscreen will assume in relation to each entry that all Production partners have agreed to the submission of the Production for the Official Selection. In the event that a number of different parties submit a single Production for the Official Selection, Wildscreen will notify all such parties that they must jointly determine the identity of a single authorised representative to act as Entrant for that Production.
Submission format: In order to reduce the festival’s carbon footprint and enable a smoother print traffic service, Wildscreen uses a digital film delivery platform and films must be submitted via online screener only.
Entry deadline: The official entry deadline for all submissions is 23:59 BST on 13 May 2026.
Selected Productions: Additional materials will be required for selected Productions. Wildscreen requires a ProRes of each Production to be screened at the Festival, promotional stills and a time-coded English script and a 30 second clip for use at the Official Selection Awards Ceremony. Selected projects that are emerging technologies or platforms such as VR, AR etc, will be featured as part of the Festival wherever possible, however Wildscreen cannot guarantee this due to potential venue, technology and cost limitations.
Submission Materials
The Official Selection competition encourages both emerging and established visual media to enter.
FILM PRODUCTIONS
Film production Entrants will be asked for the various production details.
Filmmakers are also asked whether they have taken any measures to reduce the environmental impact of their production.
Media files: Wildscreen aims to provide the best possible viewing experience for the judging of your film. To achieve this, we ask you to provide a high-quality version of your video to be uploaded to FilmFreeway, or to supply a Vimeo link. As soon as you create a project in FilmFreeway you will be directed to your Project Page where you can easily upload your project file (up to 10GB) or link your video via Vimeo or YouTube.
FilmFreeway accepts all major video formats in full quality HD up to 10 GB. We transcode videos for playback compatibility and performance and recommend that you use settings close to our output settings:
Maximum video bitrate: 2200 Kbps, H.264, mp4
Audio: 128 Kbps, AAC, 2 channel stereo
Aspect ratio preserved; maximum video height of 720 pixels
Wildscreen will contact the production submitter if there are any issues with the film file so please ensure that you have an individual identified as the submitter and a direct email address.
IMMERSIVE PRODUCTIONS
Any 360 Films, Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality productions should be entered via the short film category with ‘360’, ‘VR’ or ‘AR’ included in the title of the submission.
Entrants will be asked for the various production details and whether they have taken any measures to reduce the environmental impact of their production.
If any specialised technology is required for the viewing of your production, please make this clear in your submission or notify Wildscreen directly (see Contact Details). Entrants will be required to provide access to this equipment during the judging process.
Selection Process
Wildscreen Official Selection is a curated programme. Every qualifying entry will be viewed by a preselection team, composed of international industry professionals.
To be a member of the preselection team, participants will apply online to Wildscreen via a form and will be asked to submit their CV, reasoning for wanting to participate and declare any conflicts of interest. Wildscreen will review preselection team applications and, if selected, they will be allocated content depending on their expertise, and time they have available to participate.
Each Production will be viewed by a minimum of 3 preselection team members, who will each score the Productions from one to ten.
The highest scoring Productions will then be considered by the Wildscreen Festival Programming team.
The Programming team, appointed by Wildscreen, will curate the Wildscreen Official Selection screening programme.
Please note that our preselection team and programmers live or work internationally and therefore the submitter screener may not register as being viewed in the UK. The primary contact listed in your submission form will be contacted about the status of your entry by the end of July 2026.
Although it is not a requirement of submission to the Official Selection, preference is given by programmers to premieres, productions created by in-country talent around native wildlife and non-broadcast productions.
Due to the quantity of applications received, we are unable to offer individual feedback if your application is unsuccessful.
Prizes
The authorised representative of each programme selected for the Official Selection Programme will receive a laurel, certificate and trophy. The selected films will be presented with a trophy at the Official Selection Ceremony in October 2026. Replica trophies and certificates will be available to order for an additional fee after the Festival.
Wildscreen Festival will also honour the best of the Official Selection Programme via the following prizes:
Programmer Prize: Films considered for this are required to have their World, International, European or UK premieres at the Wildscreen Festival. All films entered into the Official Selection are automatically eligible for this prize and will be selected by our Programmers. A cash prize of £2,000 and laurel will be awarded.
Audience Prize: This award is voted for by the Wildscreen Festival audience, recognising the Production that receives the highest audience vote during the industry and public programme. A cash prize of £1,000 and laurel will be awarded.
Sustainable Merit: The Wildscreen Festival Official Selection Programming team, with advice from experts in sustainable filmmaking, will recognise a production entered in the 2026 Official Selection which has committed to innovative sustainable practices to reduce the environmental impact of a production. A laurel will be awarded. Please note that implementation of such practices is not required as part of the competition submission criteria.
Use of Submission Materials
Festival Screening:
Films selected to be part of the Official Selection will be screened at least once as part of the Wildscreen Festival public screening programme. Scheduling and timetabling of the public screenings is entirely at the discretion of Wildscreen.
Selected projects that are emerging technologies or platforms such as VR, AR etc, will be featured as part of the Festival wherever possible, however Wildscreen cannot guarantee this due to potential venue, technology and cost limitations.
In the event of a force majeure that prevents Wildscreen from hosting in-person events, productions will be screened digitally via an online Festival platform.
There will be an online film library featuring Official Selection productions available for Wildscreen Festival attendees to watch.
Entrants who have submitted Productions which have been nominated for an award will be asked to provide high quality screening copies (to be retained in Wildscreen’s archive) for viewing by the Programmers and screening during the Festival. Wildscreen can support a variety of screening formats and each nominee or selected Entrant will be contacted to discuss specific formats for such purposes.
All Official Selection Productions will need to provide a ProRes video copy of the Production for screening during the Festival.
No Production which has been programmed for Official Selection may be withdrawn by an Entrant.
Promotions: Wildscreen will seek to promote the Festival and Official Selection by featuring extracts from submissions on radio, television and any other form of audio-visual media including, but not limited to, the World Wide Web and digital media. Wildscreen will be entitled to use extracts from all submitted Productions for such promotions at no cost provided such extracts do not exceed 2 minutes of featured music or 3 minutes duration in total (in respect of any individual Production).
Images: Entrants warrant that Wildscreen is entitled to use of all images they provide to Wildscreen for promotional publicity throughout the world in all media without the requirement to credit such Production or any other person or make any payment in respect of such usage.
Editing: Wildscreen reserves the right to edit the information supplied by Entrants for use in publicity materials and online promotional materials.
Publicity: Wildscreen may contact Entrants whose submissions are selected as part of the Official Selection or have won Prizes to seek their assistance in the promotion of the Festival and publicity in regard to their Production.
Film library: All submissions will be retained permanently by Wildscreen for educational and archival purposes. Wildscreen is entitled to make Productions available for viewing by Wildscreen Festival pass holders via an online, secured, password-protected film library, pre-, during and post-Festival for up to a four-month period following the last day of the Festival). You agree that your content will be accessible and viewable by Wildscreen’s streaming application users and will be accessible via supported streaming devices using secure authentication credentials issued by the Wildscreen Festival streaming application.
Wildscreen does not pay screening fees to Entrants.
Non-Festival screenings: Wildscreen is entitled to screen Productions to the public at not-for-profit events in-person for an unlimited time. These screenings will be used to further Wildscreen's charitable mission to “connect people with nature through storytelling and democratise the creation of and access to nature’s stories”. An audience admission fee may be levied for such screenings to cover venue or administration charges, and Entrants acknowledge that they are not entitled to any payment in respect thereof.
Productions may also be considered for inclusion in Wildscreen Screening Tours and/or online events. If your Production is selected, we will contact you to arrange a separate licence agreement.
Liabilities
In submitting a Production to the Official Selection each Entrant is deemed to have:
obtained all necessary clearances in respect of their Production relating to all materials, music, performances, scripts and underlying works embodied in such Production and to give Wildscreen a warrant to that effect.
all the necessary authority to make such submission in accordance with these Rules.
In the event of any dispute concerning credits or copyright in respect of a Production Wildscreen reserves the right to reject the submission in respect of such Production or withhold Official Selection or prize in respect of such Production until the dispute is resolved.
Each Entrant is deemed to indemnify and hold harmless Wildscreen, its selection team, programmers, sponsors and partners, from and against all claims, demands, losses, damages, costs, liabilities, and expenses (including legal expenses), arising from Wildscreen's possession and use in accordance with these Rules of their submission to Wildscreen in connection with the Official Selection (including without limitation Productions, photographs, information and other materials).
Each Entrant acknowledges that circumstances may arise which are beyond the reasonable control of Wildscreen in which Wildscreen has to cancel the Festival, the Official Selection and screenings and in such event no refunds of Fees will be payable.
Wildscreen's liability for death or personal injury arising from its negligence is not limited but any other liability of Wildscreen related to any submission (whether for breach of contract, or tort (including negligence) or breach of statutory duty or otherwise howsoever arising) is limited to the amount of the Fees paid by the Entrant in respect of such submission.
MARKETING
By registering your submission, you agree to receive essential communications regarding your entry and the event. You may also choose to opt in to our year-round e-news and promotional updates; consent for these is optional and may be withdrawn at any time by clicking ‘unsubscribe’ in any email. Your personal information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which details how your data is collected, used, stored, and your rights regarding that information.
Contact
In the event of any queries please contact:
Wildscreen
Unit 1.11
Temple Studios
Temple Gate
Bristol
BS1 6QA
e: awards@wildscreen.org
