Film Prizes and Awards

The Royal Anthropological Institute now invites the submission of entries for the following Film Prizes and Awards: Royal Anthropological Institute Film Prize, Basil Wright Film Prize, Wiley-Blackwell Student Film Prize, Material Culture and Archaeology Film Prize, Intangible Culture Film Prize (Music – Dance – Performance), Richard Werbner Award for Visual Ethnography.

Royal Anthropological Institute Film Prize

This prize of £500, awarded biennially since 1980, will be awarded for "the most outstanding film on social, cultural and biological anthropology or archaeology".

Basil Wright Film Prize

This prize of £500 has been offered biennially since 1986. Funds have been provided by Robert Gardner, the American filmmaker. This prize will be awarded for "a film in the ethnographic tradition, in the interest of furthering a concern for humanity in order to acknowledge the evocative faculty of film as a way of communicating their concern to others". Particular value will be attached to innovative styles or forms of film-making.

Wiley-Blackwell Student Film Prize

This prize warded for the first time in 1990, and since 2005 sponsored by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, is of a value of £250. It will be given to the most outstanding film in the ethnographic tradition made by a student enrolled in a bona fide educational institution. Entries for this prize may have originated and been edited on any film format but must be submitted on a DVD format. In assessing the films, the judges will consider the budget constraints, technical resources, and professional input available to the students, as well as each film's anthropological relevance.

Material Culture and Archaeology Film Prize

If an appropriate film of sufficient merit and excellence is submitted which falls within this category, the Festival Committee will provide £250 for this special award.

Intangible Culture Film Prize (Music – Dance – Performance)

This prize named with reference to the UNESCO designation 'Intangible Culture', was created at the 2007 Festival in response to the growing number of films dealing with music, dance and performance. It is a companion prize to the Material Culture & Archaeology award, and will be of a value of £250.

Richard Werbner Award for Visual Ethnography (NEW in 2011)

Substantial ethnographic films directed by professional anthropologists will be eligible for this award, which will be for £100.  The award will be given to films made by anthropologists, preferably with a Ph.D. in anthropology, at an early stage in their careers. To qualify, the film must be substantive (at least 40 minutes in length) and based upon extensive fieldwork by the film-maker among the film’s subjects. Special consideration will be given to the distinctive capacity of the film to complement, carry forward and enhance anthropological knowledge based on text.

See also: https://www.therai.org.uk/awards/prizes/film-prizes/

Any enquiry about the Rules and Conditions of Entry should be directed to:

Film Officer, Susanne Hammacher, RAI, 50 Fitzroy Street, LondonW1T 5BT. 
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7387-0455;  Fax: +44 (0) 207388 8817;  e-mail: film@therai.org.uk