The Best of Our Best — Our Grand jury prize
Recognizing Exceptional Young Filmmaking
For 13 years, our contest has honored a top film in each of our age-specific categories, alongside a Top Animation Award, Environmental Activism Awards, and the Sally Stovall Prize for Creativity. After all the submissions from the June 25th due date are in, qualifying films are judged by our panel of over 30 professionals, whose backgrounds span filmmaking, production, community activism, and environmental work.
What sets us apart from other festivals and contests? Every qualifying film is reviewed by at least two jury members that combine filmmaking expertise with environmental leadership . Every filmmaker receives personal feedback on their work. Top-scoring films then go through a second round of review by our panel, who then select our winners, distinguished awards, and honorable mentions.
As our program grows and draws submissions from around the world, we're committed to expanding opportunities for young creatives and elevating their voices on an international stage. With that mission in mind, we are honored to choose one Grand Jury Prize winner each year at our Global Awards Celebration.
What is the Grand Jury Prize?
Many talented filmmakers who have submitted to our program over the years have gone on to build careers as emerging professionals in the industry. Recognizing outstanding work by these young storytellers matters. This is why, each year, the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest invites an established jury of film professionals to celebrate exceptional environmental storytelling from young creators around the world - this is known as the Grand Jury Prize.
During the Global Awards Celebration, screened at The Davis Theater in Chicago, our distinguished jury will consider the top winners from filmmakers 16 years of age and older.
From these films, the jury will select only one film to receive the Grand Jury Prize, recognizing exceptional achievement in environmental storytelling, creativity, and cinematic excellence. The Prize will be awarded as one of the following: Grand Prize in Short Film Animation, Grand Prize in Short Film Live-Action, or Grand Prize in Short Film Documentary. The jury's final decision will be formally announced as the final award of our program.
Eligibility
The winning films for this year at the High School, University/College, Post Graduate, Animation, and Sally Stovall Prize for Creativity categories are eligible for Grand Jury Prize consideration.
The Grand Jury weighs a range of artistic and storytelling qualities, such as the strength of storytelling, factual accuracy of any documentary work and research used, editing, and overall quality of the film. They will also give particular attention to how effectively each film engages with important and relevant environmental issues.
The Grand Jury Prize has been established to align with the [Academy Awards Oscar Qualifying Short Film Festival standards. If the One Earth Film Festival / Young Filmmakers Contest is granted Oscar qualifying status in the future, Grand Jury Prize recipients may become eligible for Academy Awards consideration in the applicable short film category (live action, documentary, animation), subject to the Academy's rules, eligibility requirements, and approval processes in effect at that time*
*Academy qualification is not currently guaranteed, and any future eligibility for Academy Awards consideration is contingent upon the festival obtaining qualifying status and the recipient meeting all applicable Academy rules and requirements.
2026 Grand Jury
This year's Grand Jury brings together accomplished filmmakers and industry professionals whose expertise spans storytelling, filmmaking, environmental advocacy, and the arts. Together, they will evaluate this year's eligible films and select the recipient of the 2026 Grand Jury Prize. We extend a huge thank you to this year’s invited jury members who have volunteered their time to help choose this year’s winning film.
Carin Powell is the writer and director of Liftoff, and co-founder of Signing Animation. Formerly a lead animator and fix team lead, Carin started Signing Animation with Nora Ng-Quinn in January 2020 as a way to combat the bias against Deaf/hard-of-hearing talent in the animation industry. She has had single-sided deafness since early childhood, and has long been a proponent of Deaf Gain. Through her work with Signing Animation she aims to demonstrate the singular talent of Deaf/HoH artists and the transformative power of storytelling.
Jonathan Moeller is an award winning filmmaker, based in Chicago, who has been making and teaching film for over 15 years. He mostly creates short films within his film collective group, The Firehouse Film Collective, while also working as a freelance videographer and video editor as Jonathan Moeller Media . He is passionate about environmental and social change. Jonathan is committed to helping all voices tell their stories — especially those who don’t always see themselves reflected on screen or feel like filmmaking belongs to them. He believes storytelling is a right, not a luxury, and that the most powerful films are born when a diversity of perspectives gets the space, support, and encouragement to shine.
Monica Fox has worked in the film and video industry for over 35 years. She has produced films shown on PBS and Discovery Networks, has worked with Kartemquin Films, and has worked on documentaries that span a wide range of subjects, including sustainability living, farm-to-table healthy eating, and histories of ground-breaking social justice institutions.