Rhode Island has a great abundance of nature in our lands and waters and cities. Considering the common use of video cameras today, this is a perfect opportunity to share your nature-themed videos with a wider audience. All styles of nature video are welcome – from a single encounter to edited and narrated storytelling and documentation. Amateur and professional entries are welcome, especially first-timers! (Specific entry rules listed below...)
This 7th Annual Festival will be hosted at Rhode Island College (RIC) on Sunday, February 25th, 2024 at 2:00pm (weather date Sunday, March 3rd at 2:00pm). The festival is organized and curated by The Environment Council of RI, The RI Natural History Survey, and RIC's Environmental Club, Ocean State Film Society, and Film Studies Program.
From among all qualifying videos, curators will select up to 75 minutes of videos for inclusion in the show reel to be shown live at the festival and as part of an online YouTube presentation.
Entry Rules for Video Submission
Videos must be...
- Your own work (singly or plural).
- No longer than 7 minutes.
- Recorded substantially in Rhode Island or nearby waters (incidental shots from elsewhere that make sense within the context of the video may be acceptable).
- Recorded after December 1st, 2022 (incidental shots from earlier that make sense within the context of the video may be acceptable).
- About some sort of nature in Rhode Island – animal, vegetable, mineral, trail, water, activity – but it must at least be focused on natural or naturalized plants, animals, or natural features (see below for more details).
- Posted online and submitted by emailing a link to the video to the email address given (see below).
In Addition...
- One video submission per person
- Please no videos focusing on domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, pet fish, pet birds, or farm animals or on exotic species such as primates or tropical reptiles (although incidental inclusion may be okay depending on the subject of the video). Depiction of yards, farms, gardens, or other human-mediated habitats are fine, for example videos showing the science of soil or the wild critters and plants in the garden would be eligible.
- Activities and interaction with wildlife in the video must be carried out in compliance with applicable Rhode Island and Federal law and regulation.
- Animals in videos must be ranging freely or headed for release, such as a netted sample of fish or wildlife that’s being rehabilitated. Please no hunting videos.
- Any video longer than 45 seconds, other than an unedited scene in nature, must include credits, and videos with copyright violations shall be rejected. (Where did you get that music?)
- Video makers can be amateur or professional videographers; However, the resources available to the maker may be a criterion in considering a video for inclusion in the February 25th event or the prizes. Please tell us of your experience and resources if you do this work professionally when submitting your video.
→ Submit a video by emailing your name, contact information, and a link to your video to Greg Gerritt by 8:00 pm on January 15th, 2024. If you have any questions email Greg or if you prefer you may call 401-374-5186.
More Fine Print...
Submitting a video is explicit permission for ECRI and the RI Natural History Survey to screen it in the February 25th event, to include your video with others in the show reel, post it on YouTube and to use stills, short clips, or descriptions of your video in publicity about the Video Festival. All submissions remain the property of their makers/owners.
The organizers of the Festival will have sole discretion regarding who the curators are, whether a video meets the rules specified here and thus is eligible for inclusion in the Festival, and which videos will be shown in the February 25th event and in what order.
Based on submissions, the organizers will create categories partly to guide the order of presentation at the festival and partly to make sure that we show the diversity of the community and Nature in Rhode Island. In curating videos for the February 25th event, the organizers may give consideration to the age, experience, and resources of video makers in order to foster diversity of participants and perspectives. Places may be reserved for children under twelve, teens, and students.
We highly encourage folks to go outside a make a new video just for the festival. We will have a special panel of community members with interests in Nature videos to select which videos will be in the show on February 25th and which will only be shared in a separate, online list of videos for general viewing.
→ Submit a video by emailing your name, contact information, and a link to your video to Greg Gerritt by 8:00 pm on January 15th, 2024. If you have any questions email Greg or if you prefer you may call 401-374-5186.