Transforming Landscapes, Telling Stories: SER2025 Film Festival Call for Submissions
Building on the success of our inaugural SER2023 Film Festival in Australia, we’re excited to announce the call for submissions for the SER2025 Film Festival. The competition is open to existing and new films that embody the principles of ecological restoration and explore the relationship between people, science, restoration, and the environment.
While scientific papers and technical reports document our work, film speaks a universal language that touches hearts and transforms minds. The SER Film Festival bridges the gap between technical expertise and public understanding, making the vital work of ecological restoration accessible to all.
With the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, delegates at SER2025 will bring with them global stories of new heights in ecological restoration to the Mile High City. We invite research students, ecological restoration professionals, indigenous people and knowledge holders, student filmmakers and professional filmmakers to share their restoration stories through the lens of film.
Selected works will be featured at the SER2025 Film Festival in Denver, Colorado, on Thursday, 2 October 2025. Finalists will be announced on the night with the winners announced at the end of the festival.
Prizes are available for each category, with the winner of each category receiving $1000, and each Runner up receiving $250.
Submission Categories:
1) Student and Ecological Restoration Professional Short films <5 minutes.
2) Open Category and Established Filmmakers Short films, 2 – 15 minutes.
3) Open Category and Established Filmmakers Feature films, > 20 minutes.
Join us in celebrating the power of visual storytelling to inspire, educate, and accelerate ecological restoration worldwide.
Deadline for film submittal: June 23
Are you a student or practitioner of ecological restoration with a riveting project story to tell?
Want to tell your ecological restoration story but don’t know how? Sign up here for the online Ecological Restoration Storytelling and Film-Making course.
Want to work with a film student or graduate? Create a post detailing your ecological restoration project, where your project is located, and what story you want to tell and take this opportunity to network with a filmmaker near you to document your story in film!
Are you a film student looking for the opportunity to apply your creative skills to documenting meaningful ecological restoration work?
Check this noticeboard for ecological restoration projects of interest and connect with the ecological restoration practitioners, indigenous storytellers, research student to develop a film for submission the SER2025 Film Festival.
For any questions, please reach out to: ser2025filmfestival@gmail.com.