Wildscreen Festival - Panda Awards

GENERAL

The 23rd Panda Awards Ceremony will take place on 22 October 2026 in the UK.

The Panda Awards ("Awards") are managed and presented by Wildscreen, a charity based at Unit 1.11, Temple Studios, Temple Gate, Bristol BS1 6QA ("Wildscreen") to celebrate and reward excellence in the craft of wildlife and environmental storytelling.

Submission of a film production to the Awards competition 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.

By applying and participating you agree to unconditional acceptance of these terms and conditions. Wildscreen reserves the right to change the terms and conditions at any time.

ELIGIBILITY

The Awards are 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 Awards are made subject to these Rules.

To be eligible, a film 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 for a previous Panda Awards or Official Selection competition

be submitted by the producer or distributor of the film (or their authorised representative)

Productions entered into the Awards 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, but they can be available to watch online.

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 Awards but submission of copies of Productions incorporating advertising is not permitted.

Productions of all lengths, crew sizes and budgets are accepted in the Wildscreen Panda Awards. All of the above factors will be taken into consideration during the judging process.

ENTRY FEES AND DEADLINES

Each category entry will incur a fee at the following rates:

Earlybird
11 Dec 2025 - 24 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT

£70 Film Production Entry Fee* (All categories excluding Emerging Talent and Series)

£140 Series Entry Fee*

£42 Emerging Talent, Short and Digital-First Category Entry Fees*

Regular
25 Feb - 16 April 2026, 12:00 BST

£100 Film Production Entry Fee* (All categories excluding Emerging Talent and Series)

£200 Series Entry Fee*

£60 Emerging Talent, Short and Digital-First Category Entry Fees*

Late
17 April - 13 May 2026, 23:59 BST

£150 Film Production Entry Fee* (All categories excluding Emerging Talent and Series)

£300 Series Entry Fee*

£90 Emerging Talent, Short and Digital-First Category Entry Fees*

* 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. https://www.naturestory.org/resources

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 Sterling 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/WildscreenFestivalPandaAwards

24 February 2026, 12:00 GMT Earlybird submission deadline

16 April 2026 12:00 BST Regular submission deadline

13 May 2026, 23:59 BST Late submission deadline

Mid-July 2026 Nominations announced

22 October 2026 Winners announced at Panda Awards Ceremony

PANDA AWARD CATEGORIES

Behaviour

For the production that best reveals insights into the behaviour of, or the interactions between animals and/or plants.

Eligibility
Behaviour must be the main focus of the film.

Additional Material

Entrants should provide a short narrative summary of key behaviour sequences with timecodes. Entrants may also include links to any supporting primary research supporting the innovation in insights into behaviour achieved. Any sequences that use archival material should be identified and explained why it was necessary to include.

Children’s

For the best overall production judged by a panel of children under the age of 16.

The production does not have to have been specifically created for young audiences.

A specialist jury of between five to ten children and young people experts will judge nominations in this category.

Eligibility

Entries may come from one off programmes or a series - although only one episode from a series may be submitted.

Cinematography

For outstanding achievement in cinematography.

Eligibility
No more than 10 percent of the production should be comprised of archive footage.

Digital-First

For the best digital-first natural world content.

Recognising the opportunity for innovation in storytelling and audience growth and diversification in creating original natural world content for social video.

Eligibility

The content should have been developed specifically for digital-first platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat or other digital-native formats.

Entries may be a one-off piece of content or part of a series or channel and is open to content creators, channels, brands or production studios.

The content should not be a re-edit, repackage or reversion of content originally made for traditional broadcast platforms.

No more than 10 percent of the content should be comprised of archive footage

Additional material

Entrants must provide one lead piece of content on the submission form.

Entrants may submit links to a maximum of 3 additional videos showcasing their content up to a total combined watch time of 20 minutes. Entrants may also submit links to digital platforms to showcase their wider profiles if applicable.

Entrants are required to submit a brief narrative (maximum 500 words) outlining the contents creativity, innovation and audience. Entrants must also provide audience growth, performance and engagement data such as views to date and average audience watch time, for the lead piece of content. Additional data can be provided for additional content (up to 3 additional videos) and/or data spanning a single or multiple digital-first platforms (links to the relevant digital platform must be provided). Data should only be provided from content created after 1 March 2025.

Editing

For outstanding achievement in editing.

Emerging Talent

In recognition of an individual or team demonstrating exceptional new talent in natural world storytelling and creative and visual flair in constructing their film.

Eligibility

Entrants must have not been employed in natural history production for more than 4 years. Productions made as part of a university or college course are eligible for this category.

Impact

For most effectively communicating an issue affecting the natural world and that is intended to deliver, or has already delivered, tangible impacts as a result.

Impacts may include, but are not limited to: behaviour change, audience reach, policy change and fundraising.

Additional material
Entrants are required to submit a brief narrative (maximum 500 words) outlining the tangible impacts and outcomes of the production. This should include qualitative and quantitative information.

In-Country Production

Given to the most outstanding production made on location in-country.

Eligibility

At least 50% of the production team should be in-country nationals.

Independent Film

For the best independent film with a budget of under £1.5m. Preference will be given to productions that have received less input from major production studios, or who have achieved an exemplary production even with a much smaller budget.

Music

For outstanding achievement in the composition and use of original music.

Eligibility
A production will be eligible if more than 50 percent of its music is original composition created specifically for it.

Additional materials
Please upload a cue sheet as a supporting document on your FilmFreeway project. Your submission will not be complete until a cue sheet is obtained.

On-Screen Talent

In recognition of outstanding talent in front of the camera.

Producer/Director

For outstanding achievement in producing and/or directing a single production.

Eligibility

Each submission must highlight a specific episode if entering as part of a series.

Production Management Team

For outstanding achievement in teamwork spanning across the production management team to create an exceptional final production.

Eligibility

Each submission must highlight a specific episode if entering as part of a series.

Additional material
Entrants are required to submit a brief supporting statement (maximum 500 words) outlining the size of the production management team, budget, complexity of the production and how they collaboratively managed the project and overcame challenges to deliver the editorial ambition.

This award focuses on Production Management Team roles spanning Head of Production, Production Manager, Production Executives, Line Producer, Production Coordinator, Production Accountant and Production Management Assistants.

Entries should demonstrate excellence in financial, logistical and personnel management.

Scripted Narrative

For outstanding achievement in scriptwriting.

Additional materials
Please upload an English script as a supporting document on your FilmFreeway project. Your submission will not be complete until an English script is received.

Series

For outstanding achievement in a series about the natural world.

Eligibility
Entries must have a unified narrative, approach and/or theme with a finite number of episodes and include a minimum of three episodes. The series does not need to have been broadcast to be eligible.

Additional material

Entrants must nominate one episode from the series on the submission form and make the whole series available for viewing by the Jury by a service such as Vimeo or Dropbox (private viewing links are permitted). If Productions wish to nominate a different episode from the same series for another award category, this alternative episode must be entered into those categories as its own project. A synopsis of the complete series must also be provided, including the overarching aims of the series.

Short

For the best short production <20 mins including credits. Digital-first content is also suitable and encouraged.

Sound

For outstanding achievement in the overall use of sound.

Sustainability

For the best implementation of sustainable practices to reduce the environmental impact throughout the lifecycle of a production. This award does not relate to the editorial content of the production, e.g. a narrative that promotes Sustainability, but will instead consider the sustainability of the production practises themselves.

Additional material

Filmmakers can share carbon action reports and certifications as part of this submission but they are not required. Documents must be uploaded to the FilmFreeway project.

Special Awards

Golden Panda Award

All nominated films will be reviewed by the Final Jury, which will select the winner of each Panda Award category and one production as overall winner (the "Golden Panda Award"). The winners will be announced at the Panda Awards Ceremony in October 2026. Direct entries for this award cannot be made.

Christopher Parsons Outstanding Achievement Award

This Award is named in honour of Wildscreen’s founder, Christopher Parsons. It is presented by Wildscreen to honour an organisation, team or individual that has made a globally significant contribution to the art and craft of storytelling, conservation and/or the wider public’s experience and understanding of the natural world and the need for its protection. Nominations will be reviewed by the Wildscreen Festival Advisory Board, the Wildscreen Team and Board of Trustees, with the recipient revealed at the Wildscreen Panda Awards Ceremony on 22 October 2026.

Nominations can be submitted via this form here: https://form.jotform.com/253424355215351

There is no fee for this award.

Eligibility
Individuals must be nominated by an industry peer to be considered for this award. Submissions will not be accepted by the nominee.

This award recognises exceptional achievement and positive impact of the nominees work/and or industry during their career

The award is open to people at all stages of their career. Whilst significant contribution is perhaps easier to demonstrate in those with longer careers, this should not rule out those that have made a significant impact from an early stage.

Nominees should have broken the mould and pushed the boundaries of the craft, reach and/or impact of their work.

A minimum of three productions/credits to which the nominee has helped deliver the editorial ambition are required.

Additional Material

The following additional material is required to make an nomination:

An outline of the nominee's area of specialism(s) and contribution, including but not limited to craft, impact and or the public's knowledge, experience and understanding of the natural world? (250 words)

An outline of the accomplishments of the outstanding nominee, covering the positive impact of their work and/or to the industry. (500 words)

Nominators also have the option to upload the nominee’s CV, however this is not requirement, though it may help to understand the nominee and their contribution better.

Field Craft Recognition Award

This 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 a field guide, driver or local conservationist who has made a significant contribution to the industry spanning a number of years and productions.

Nominations can be made here: https://form.jotform.com/253424012964352

There is no fee for this award.

Eligibility
Individuals must be nominated by an industry peer to be considered for this award.

The nominated individual must have worked on a minimum of three productions.

Additional ​​material
The application form requires a brief narrative (maximum 500 words) outlining the accomplishments of the outstanding field craft talent nominee, along with the nominee and nominator’s contact details, details of relevant production credits, relationship to the nominee, up to 2 testimonials from peers who have worked directly with the nominee to back up your nomination and their area of specialism(s), including but not limited to location, local knowledge, access, and species. The narrative should detail the unique skills, talent, and/or access that helped to deliver the editorial ambition across a minimum of three productions.

SUBMISSION PLATFORM AND PROCESS

Panda Award category submissions will be accepted via FilmFreeway only. Entrants are able to submit via FilmFreeway Wildscreen Festival Panda Awards.

For information on how to use the platform please visit the FilmFreeway FAQs.

Entrants must create a separate FilmFreeway project for each Production and nominate it for consideration in one or more award categories.

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 Awards ("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 Awards. In the event that a number of different parties submit a single Production for the Awards, 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.

Credits: When entering the Panda Awards Entrants must ensure that the individuals responsible and partners such as co-producers, are properly credited in the submission form.

Submission format: In order to reduce the awards' 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.

Nominated productions: Additional materials will be required from nominated productions. Wildscreen requires a ProRes video file of each production, promotional stills, a time-coded English script and a 15 second clip for use at the Panda Awards Ceremony and for use within marketing and press materials.

SUBMISSION MATERIALS

In addition to the information above, Entrants are required to submit a brief statement for each of their chosen award categories, which clearly describes the strengths and achievements of their production in relation to each specific category.

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.

To view a Project Page, go to My Projects in the main menu, then click View next to the appropriate project.

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.

JUDGING PROCESS

There will be two rounds of judging.

All submissions received by the entry deadline will be reviewed by the Nomination Jury and the three or four Productions deemed to be the best by the Nomination Jury in each category will be nominated for the overall category award and put forward for consideration by the Final Jury.

All Entrants will receive notification of the outcome of the judging process by the Nomination Jury in early July 2026 before any public announcement is made regarding nominated Productions.

All nominated films will be reviewed by the Final Jury, which will select the winner of each award category and one production as overall winner (the "Golden Panda Award"). The winners will be announced at the Panda Awards Ceremony on 22 October 2026.

Both the Nomination Jury and the Final Jury will comprise industry practitioners selected from a range of disciplines and countries, balanced in age, gender and experience and with a history of achievement in their field.

Members of both Juries are invited to serve by Wildscreen. Nomination and award decisions are made by the members of the Nomination Jury and Final Jury in their absolute discretion and by them alone and the Juries may in their discretion withhold an award in any category.

For the Children’s Award, a Nomination Jury, comprised of experts will select the three or four nominated productions. The overall category winner will be chosen by a specialist Final Jury of between five to ten children oversee by a nominated representative of Wildscreen.

Due to the number of submissions received, Wildscreen cannot provide individual feedback or reasons for non-selection of any entry.

PRIZES

A certificate of nomination and laurel will be sent to the authorised representative of each nominated Production.

Winners will be announced at the Panda Awards Ceremony to be held on 22 October 2026. The authorised representative of each Entrant with an award-winning Production will receive a Panda Award trophy, laurel and winner’s certificate.

Replica trophies and certificates will be available to order for an additional fee after the Awards Ceremony.

USE OF SUBMISSION MATERIALS

Screening: 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) and for viewing by the Final Jury. Wildscreen can support a variety of screening formats and each nominee or selected Entrant will be contacted to discuss specific formats for such purposes.

No Production which has been nominated for an award may be withdrawn by an Entrant.

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.

Promotions: Wildscreen will seek to promote the Awards 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).

Film Production Images: Entrants warrant that Wildscreen is entitled to use all images they provide 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 have been nominated for Awards or have won Awards to seek their assistance in the promotion and publicity of the Festival and Awards in regard to their Production.

Year-round 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 Awards competition 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 any nomination or award in respect of such Production until the dispute is resolved.

Each Entrant is deemed to indemnify and hold harmless Wildscreen, its judges, 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 Awards (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 Awards 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

Wildscreen
Unit 1.11
Temple Gate,
Bristol
BS1 6QA

e: awards@wildscreen.org