NYU Global Climate Change Film Festival opens 2026 International Call for Entries in partnership with UArctic
The New York University (NYU) Global Climate Change Film Festival will open its 2026 Call for Entries from April 1-15, 2026. Now in its fourth year, the festival welcomes 1-3 minute film submissions from students and alumni across the academic networks of NYU and UArctic.
Building on the success of the partnership, previous winning entries included "The Children Were Taken from the Land, Now the Land is Being Taken from the Children" by Inuvialuit filmmakers Eriel Lugt and Carmen Kuptana, and "Lessons From Our Grandfather" by Ashley Qilavaq-Savard and Jennifer Kilabuk.
The NYU Global Climate Change Film Festival has developed into a university-wide interdisciplinary platform that brings together scientific inquiry, lived experience, and creative expression. The 2025 festival drew 78 entries from seven countries and was featured by NYU's Climate Initiative. Award-winning films have screened at the Cannes Marché du Film and the Ilulissat Icefjord Centre in Greenland.
The festival invites films that examine the forces driving climate change, question the systems that have shaped our present, and imagine what might yet be possible—work that moves beyond warning toward regenerative, sustainable ways of living in a world of accelerating disruption. It also embraces films grounded in careful observation, from constellations wheeling in the night sky to the dance of light within a chloroplast, inspiring wonder and renewing our place within our living world.
A total of $3,450 in awards will be presented across ten recipients, including one $1,500 First Prize, two $550 Second Prizes, three $150 Third Prizes, and four $100 Honorable Mentions.
The ceremony will take place on April 22, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. at the NYU Kimmel Center in New York City and will be livestreamed publicly at wp.nyu.edu/cff. Admission is free for NYU administrators, faculty, and students with a valid NYU ID. UArctic members are welcome and must register in advance with Max DeGeorge (mjd581@nyu.edu) to obtain a visitor pass.
"Storytelling across genres that engages the interconnected causes and consequences of a heating planet is central to public understanding and to how societies prepare for a rapidly changing future," said Peter Terezakis, professor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and founder and director of the NYU Global Climate Change Film Festival.
Full guidelines and entry details are available at wp.nyu.edu/cff. Submissions close at 5:00 p.m. on April 15, 2026.
Please read the press release here.