Wildscreen has announced the shortlist of nominees for their coveted Panda Awards for wildlife filmmaking. The BBC’s Blue Planet 2 series has received 7 nominations followed by Keo Films’ Rise of the Warrior Apes with 5.

The winners will be revealed at the Panda Awards Ceremony which will take place on 19 October in Bristol, UK.

Press release

Wildscreen: 2018 Panda Award Nominees Announced

• Blue Planet II leads nominations receiving seven, followed closely by Rise of the Warrior Apes with five
• Personal stories and authentic voices of scientists and craftspeople dominates nominations
• Wildscreen doubles the Impact category nominees to recognize budgets of all sizes can affect change

THURSDAY 5 JULY, BRISTOL, UK: Wildscreen, the not-for-profit behind the world’s biggest festival of natural history storytelling, today announced the nominees for the 2018 edition of international wildlife film, TV and content industry’s highest honour — the Wildscreen Panda Awards.

The ocean epic, BLUE PLANET II, leads the nominations picking up seven nods for the world-renowned BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit, in recognition of its stunning cinematography and never-before-seen animal behavior. Keo Films’ RISE OF THE WARRIOR APES, which brings a gripping investigative approach to natural history documentary, follows closely with five nominations, topping the craft categories for its technical excellence. Intimate personal stories and the use of authentic voices, with them being integral to the over-arching narratives of a production, is a standout theme across the 17 categories. The expert testimony and passion of scientists is central to many productions including JANE and ONE STRANGE ROCK.

“Humanity’s relationships and interactions with the natural world is what truly stood out amongst the nominees this year”, said Lucie Muir, Wildscreen CEO. “We’re at a point in our history where we either choose to protect nature or we all suffer the consequences. Storytelling is a powerful tool for positive change and it was so encouraging to see a particularly strong field in the Impact award category in 2018. It was so strong in fact, that we took the decision to double the number of nominees, creating two sub-categories — small and large budget – recognizing that big impacts and change is possible on any budget. These stories share hope and optimism for the future of our natural world and our place within it.”

The 2018 line-up also sees the first ever VR contender in the Awards’ 36 year history, with THE PROTECTORS receiving a nomination for the Innovation Award.

Oscar-winning Dame Judi Dench’s, MY PASSION FOR TREES, sees her nominated for the Presenter Award alongside Chris Packham and BBC wildlife cameraman, Vianet Djenguet.

The shortlist features productions from 12 countries, including Qatar for the first time, with each of the 37 nominees standing out amongst nearly 800 entries to Wildscreen’s international jury of more than 40 world-leading producers, broadcasters and craft professionals. But it’s not just the industry that decides the outstanding productions of the past two years. The Children’s Panda Award nominees were chosen by a 30-strong jury of 8-12 years olds from Easton in Bristol and a school in León, Mexico.

The winners will be revealed at the Panda Awards Ceremony which will take place on 19 October at The Passenger Shed, Brunel’s Old Station, in Bristol. The gala is the climax to the Wildscreen Festival, the biggest global gathering of natural world storytellers, which sees over 900 of the world’s leading filmmakers, photographers, broadcasters and content creators convene in Bristol for a week of business, film premieres and an unrivaled program of 120+ hours of content from more than 150 speakers from across the globe.

About Wildscreen

Wildscreen is an award-winning wildlife conservation charity. Our goal is to convene the world’s best filmmakers and photographers with the most committed conservationists to create compelling stories about the natural world and so inspire the wider public to experience it, feel part of it and protect it. We are powered by an ecosystem of projects:

• Wildscreen Arkive - the world’s leading online natural world encyclopaedia;
• Wildscreen Exchange - a unique global hub, empowering conservation organisations by connecting them with world-leading filmmakers and photographers to create ground- breaking communications about our natural world.
• Wildscreen Festival - the internationally renowned festival that celebrates and advances the art of natural world storytelling. The next Festival takes place from the 15-19 October 2018.
• Wildscreen is based in Bristol, UK – the South West of England city nicknamed ‘Green Hollywood’ because it produces more natural history film and TV than any other city in the world.

For more visit: www.wildscreen.org