NASA and Houston Cinema Arts Society (HCAS) will offer filmmakers around the world a chance to share their works inspired by — and using — actual NASA imagery through “CineSpace,” a new short film competition premiering at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival in November 2015.
Films featuring NASA-captured imagery and video collected throughout the agency’s 50-year history will be judged on creativity, innovation and attention to detail – the same hallmarks of spaceflight. Works submitted to CineSpace will compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to be shown to audiences both on and off Earth.
The competition is open to all filmmakers, both professional and aspiring. Submissions of all genres, up to 15 minutes running time, will be accepted. Entries must use at least 10 percent publically available NASA imagery.
The submission period opens June 1 and closes July 31. Finalists and winners will be announced at a CineSpace event during the 7th Annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival (Nov. 12-19). Entries will be competing for a total of $26,000 in prizes, with cash awards going to the top three submissions and the two films chosen that best depict the themes of “Benefits to Humanity from the International Space Station” and “Spirit of Future Exploration of Space.”
“Houston Cinema Arts Society is thrilled to partner with NASA to add a new and unique competitive component to our festival,” HCAS board member Patrick Kwiatkowski said. “Tapping into NASA’s vast archive will afford filmmakers the opportunity to produce compelling and innovative works across all genres. Our audiences will see space like it has never been seen before.”
HCAS is a non-profit organization created in 2008 that organizes and hosts the annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival, the only festival in the United States dedicated to films about the arts. The expertly curated festival has hosted notable filmmakers and actors including Robert Redford, Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Isabella Rossellini, Tilda Swinton, John Turturro, Shirley MacLaine, Thomas Haden Church, Will Forte, Julie Taymor and James Ivory.
“CineSpace is a new and untested chance to inspire the next generation of explorers,” International Space Station Program manager Michael Suffredini said. “This unique opportunity allows others to help tell the story of humanity’s place in the cosmos as they see it, with the help of NASA’s vast library of moving and still imagery. Exploration and discovery, which are central to NASA’s mission, are as connected to human psyche as is art, so we are excited to see how artists can help to communicate that mission.”
NASA’s journeys into air and space continue to power inspiration that encourages future generations to explore, learn and build a better future. The next decade of exploration will be a time of rapid advancement and innovation as humanity stands poised to take the next giant leap to Mars and beyond.
For more information on CineSpace, competition guidelines and the submission process, visit: http://www.cinespace15.org
To browse NASA video and imagery, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/content/download-nasa-videos-for-cinespace
ABOUT HOUSTON CINEMA ARTS SOCIETY (HCAS)
Houston Cinema Arts Society is a non-profit organization created in 2008 with the support of former Houston Mayor Bill White and the leadership of Franci Neely. HCAS organizes and hosts the annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival, a groundbreaking and innovative arts festival featuring films and new media by and about artists in the visual, performing and literary arts. HCAS sponsors include Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Houston First Corporation, Texas Monthly, Levantine Films, Champion Energy Services, Nabors Industries, Amegy Bank of Texas, as well as a grant from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, and The Brown Foundation, Inc., Texas Commission on the Arts, and others. HCAF is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, please visit hcaf15.org.
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Johnson Space Center, Houston
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