The 2015 international competition drew 194 entries from 22 countries and 32 U.S. states. Academy Award-nominated director, producer and screenwriter Richard Linklater – a Houston native who won best director honors at the 2015 Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards for his film Boyhood – helped NASA and the Houston Cinema Arts Society judge the contest entries.

From the entries, 16 finalists were chosen and premiered during CineSpace Day at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival. Prize money was awarded 1st Place $10,000, 2nd Place $5,000 for 2nd place and $3,000 for 3rd place. Two additional categories were awarded $4,000 each for “Film Best Depicting Benefits to Humanity from the International Space Station” and “Film Best Depicting Spirit of Future Exploration of Space.

1st Place
Higher Ground
Mary Magsamen and Stephen Hillerbrand
Houston, TX

2nd Place
Mission Avante
Fernando Dueñas Peña
Bogota Colombia

3rd Place
Le Voyage
Alexandre B. Lampron
Laval, Quebec

Film Best Depicting Benefits to Humanity from the International Space Station
Red Pearl
Wayne Slaten
League City, TX

Film Best Depicting Spirit of Future Exploration of Space
Home
Benjamin Eck
Sherman Oaks, CA

Finalists

A Little Journey
Lisset Mendoza
Anaheim, CA

As We Set Sail
Lee Arter
Los Angeles, CA

Come Closer
Amia Yokoyama
Los Angeles, CA

End of the Sky
Elijah Alvarado
Iowa

General Astronomy
Victoria Taylor-Gore
Amarillo, TX

Gravitation: Variation in Time and Space
Andrei Severny
New York, NY

Guiding Light
Guy Shahaf
Yehud, Israel

Is It Possible To Define Inspiration?
Courtney Robinson
Grimsby, Lincolnshire

Outer Space
Sander van den Berg
Pijnacker, Zuid-Holland

Supersymmetry
Trent Jaklitsch
Brooklyn, NY

Voyagers
Daniel Land and Paul Frieling
Detroit, Michigan

Films featuring NASA-captured imagery and video collected throughout the agency’s 50-year history were judged on creativity, innovation and attention to detail: the same hallmarks of spaceflight.

CineSpace will return in 2016 for filmmakers to once again compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to be shown to audiences both on and off Earth.

For more information on CineSpace, visit: www.cinespace.org