The 8th Annual Evolution Film Festival/Video Contest was held on Saturday, June 22nd, 2019 at the Evolution Conference in Providence, RI.  Over 200 people attended, enjoyed our 15 finalists and voted on their favorite.

The winning video was “How to Make Humans Sick”.  It was submitted by Noah Resnick of Arbor Vitae Animations.  View it here.  He will receive $1,000 and this trophy (aka “The Chucky”).

The runner up was high school student Josh Mott of Largo, FL, who submitted “Josh’s Evolution Exploration” (view it here).  Josh was the only high school student to submit a video this year, and as the Runner-Up he receives $500 (which he can add to his college fund and hopefully go on to get a degree in Evolutionary Biology!)

Prize money is courtesy of the Society for the Study of Evolution.  We thank them and this year’s other sponsors: American Society of Naturalists, BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, and the Society of Systematic Biologists.

And, a HUGE thank you to everyone who submitted a video this year…they were all wonderful!  Start working on your video for next year!

Read a blog post from the SSE (Society for the Study of Evolution) Community Blog about how the Evolution Film Festival came to be, and how it has evolved (sorry!) over the years.

 

Application deadline: Friday, May 31st, 2019 (11:59 PM, EST)

For questions, contact Jory Weintraub (jory@duke.edu)

The 7th Annual Evolution Film Festival was held at the Evolution 2017 Conference in Portland, OR on Sunday, June 25th.  This year, we had 45 submissions and screened 14 finalists.  The audience voted and the winner was “Milkweed vs. Monarchs: The Evolutionary Arms Race”, submitted by Sara Dykman:

 

What makes her entry particularly noteworthy is that she wrote, filmed, edited and submitted it while on a 3,000-mile bike ride from Mexico to Canada to follow Monarch butterfly migration.  You can read more about that adventure here.

As winner of this year’s Evolution Film Festival, Sara will receive the $1,000 First Place Prize (courtesy of the Society for the Study of Evolution), and this fabulous 1st Place Trophy (which she undoubtedly plans to mount on her handlebars to keep her company as she finishes her journey to Canada).

Congrats, also, to this year’s Runner-Up: “The Friar and the Pea: The Life and Legacy of Gregor Mendel“, submitted by Eric and Alicia Power of PowerUp Animations.  As runners-up, they receive $500 from SSE.

Thanks to all who submitted videos this year, all who attended the event and voted in Portland, and to our sponsors: Duke Initiative for Science & Society, HHMI BioInteractive, Society for the Study of Evolution and the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action.

Application deadline: Friday, June 2nd, 2017 (11:59 PM, EST)

For questions, contact Jory Weintraub (jory@duke.edu)

The 2016 Evolution Film Festival received over 50 entries.  13 finalists were selected and screened, the audience voted, and the winner was “Pygids“, submitted by Matt Wilkins and Tyler Corey, from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.  Congratulations!  Matt and Tyler received a $1,000 prize, and posed for a picture with their “Chuckie” trophy:

This year’s runner-up was “Ape“, submitted by Eustace Ng and Anita Yen, of Sheridan College.  They receive a $500 prize.

All 13 entries can be viewed on the 2016 Entries page.

Congrats to them, and thanks to all who submitted videos!

Start working on your submission for this year’s contest, and we’ll see you at the Seventh Annual Evolution Film Festival in Portland, OR!

Application deadline: Tuesday, May 31, 2016 (11:00 PM, EST)

 

For questions, contact Jory Weintraub (jory@duke.edu)

This year we received 52 fantastic entries, which far surpassed the record number of entries we received in 2014.  13 finalists were selected and screened at the “Fifth Annual NESCent/HHMI/SSE Evolution Film Festival”, which was held at the Evolution 2015 Conference in Guaruja, Brazil.

Attendees voted, and this year’s winner was “Escaping the Sex Trap: Can Female Resistance Promote the Loss of Sex?”, submitted by Nathan Burke, David Sindel (University of New South Wales).  Congratulations!  Nathan and his collaborators received a $1,000 prize and a “Chuckie” trophy.

This year’s runner-up was “Alice and the Enigmatic Tree of Rabbits”, submitted by Fanny Gascuel, Miraine Davila (Université Pierre et Marie Curie / Collège de France / Ecole Normale Supérieure).  They receive a $500 prize.

All 13 entries can be viewed on the 2015 Entries page.

Congrats to them, and thanks to all who submitted videos this year!

Start working on your submission for next year, and we’ll see you at the Sixth Annual Evolution Film Festival in Austin, Texas!

Call for entries: Fifth Annual NESCent/HHMI/SSE Evolution Video Contest

The 4^th annual Evolution Film Festival was held on Saturday, June 21 at the Evolution 2014 conference in Raleigh, NC.

This was a very competitive year.  We had over 30 submissions — the most we’ve ever had — and the voting for the final 12 was unusually close because there were so many great finalists.  But, the masses have spoken and here are the winners:

This year’s first place winner was “Drift” by Florida State University undergraduates Lauren Anderson, Monique Boileau, Zach Boudreau, Sarah Jezierny and Julia Kunberger, and graduate student Will Ryan.

This year’s runner-up was “Dinosaur,” a sweetly sung narrative about a girl who’s nostalgic for the dinosaurs by Lori and Joel Henriques.

Prizes for the first- and second place winners include a travel award for $1000 and $500 (respectively) to a future conference of their choice.

All of this year’s entries can be viewed by clicking on “2014 Entries” at the top of this screen.

Thanks to all who participated in this year’s event!