If you have a unique vision of the future, NASA wants to help you share it with the world through its CineSpace Short Film Competition. Filmmakers of all stripes are asked to utilize NASA’s incredible library of space imagery to craft imaginative, celebratory films up to ten minutes long. A grand prize of $10,000 is on the line, so get those internal combustion engines rumbling. There will also be special cash prizes for films that best display the themes “Benefits of Space to Humanity” and “Future Space Exploration.” The vibe seems to be far more Interstellar than Alien.
For the third year in a row, Richard Linklater will serve as the head judge for the competition, so if you can jam a cinema vérité weekend-in-the-life of a 1980s college baseball team into your sci-fi epic, you might have a leg up on the competition.
NASA also greatly encourages participants to check out past finalists and winners, not only to get a sense of what they’re looking for, but also to see what imagery has already been used. As for that list, narratives vary widely, but an airy art house style pervades winners from the last two years, as well as a subtext of discovery and adventure. Last year’s winner, 1950DA, is black and white and very French, while the competition’s inaugural winner, Higher Ground, is literally home-made (the Magsamen/Hillerbrand family tore apart their house to make a spaceship).
There’s also a healthy dose of fantastically, sometimes psychotropic animation in the finalists cohort, like Mission Avante (above), and Home, which claimed “Best Depicting Spirit of Future Exploration of Space” in 2015 has a car commercial gloss to it.
The submission period ends July 31,2017. Here are the full guidelines. You can peruse NASA’s video hub for celestial goodness and inspiration. Good luck, explorers!
Images: NASA
