NASA, Houston Cinema Arts Society Announce New Special Category for 2020 CineSpace Competition

NASA and the Houston Cinema Arts Society are updating the CineSpace 2020 competition to feature a new special category: best film using exclusively NASA archival footage. The CineSpace Short Film Competition opened submissions March 2, beginning the sixth year of the competition.

The addition acknowledges that, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there may be many limitations on filmmakers’ abilities to shoot or acquire new footage and interface with production crews and talent. The new special category will recognize editors, filmmakers, and multimedia experts who utilize 100% NASA archival footage. Audio and graphics can be specifically created for the submission or used from NASA archives.  

In addition to the newly added special category, and in recognition of humans living and working on the space station continuously for 20 years, the competition features two additional special awards: best film in a documentary format using NASA imagery, and best film that celebrates 20 years of humans on the space station.

Professional and aspiring filmmakers, animators, and editors from around the world are welcome to submit their films. Submissions of all genres, including narrative, documentary, comedy, drama, animation, experimental and others will be accepted via Tongal, an online content creation platform.  

As in previous years, filmmakers will compete for $26,000 in cash prizes, with awards going to the top three overall winners and winners of the three special categories. Finalists and winners will be announced and awarded their prizes at the CineSpace awards ceremony during the Houston Cinema Arts Festival in November 2020.

The deadline for film submissions remains July 15, 2020.

For more information on CineSpace, competition guidelines and the submission process, and to view past winners and finalists, visit:

http://www.cinespace.org