Short Films Will Be Inspired By, And Use, Actual NASA Imagery

As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first human Moon landing this July and NASA rededicates itself to putting more boot prints on the lunar surface, filmmakers around the world will be making their final cuts at entries for "CineSpace," a short-film competition that will share their works inspired by -- and using -- actual NASA imagery.

NASA and the Houston Cinema Arts Society are now opening the submission period for the 2019 fifth-annual competition. The deadline closes July 15, 2019, 49 years and 364 days after the Apollo 11 launch.

In 2018, the fourth annual CineSpace competition drew almost 240 entries from 54 countries. Fifteen finalists premiered their films at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival at the Rice Media Center in Houston. Filmmakers brought new visions to life using real-life space imagery from NASA telescopes and robotic spacecraft exploring our solar system and beyond, to sights captured on the International Space Station where men and women have been working continuously for more than 18 years.

Films featuring NASA-captured imagery and video collected throughout the agency's 60-year history will be judged on creativity, innovation and attention to detail: which also are the hallmarks of spaceflight.

In addition to being screened at the CineSpace awards ceremony during the Houston Cinema Arts Festival, winners and finalists may be screened at other film festivals across the country, as well as on NASA TV and even on the International Space Station.

The competition is open to all filmmakers, both professional and aspiring. Submissions of all genres, including narrative, documentary, comedy, drama, animation, experimental and others, up to 10 minutes running time, will be accepted on Tongal, an online creative community. Entries must use at least 10 percent publically available NASA imagery.

Finalists and winners will be announced at a CineSpace event during the Houston Cinema Arts Festival in November. Entries will be competing for $26,000 in prizes with cash awards going to the top three submissions as well as two special category films: 1) the best documentary film and 2) the film that best exhibits human presence in space. An additional price will be awarded to the film that uses obscure, never used before NASA footage from the depths of our archives.

NASA's journeys into air and space continue to power inspiration that encourages future generations to explore, learn and build a better future. Humanity has used the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future.

The Houston Cinema Arts Society is a nonprofit organization created in 2008 that organizes and hosts the annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival, an arts festival featuring films and new media by and about artists in the visual, performing and literary arts. The 11th Annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival will take place Nov. 14-18, 2019.

(Source: NASA news release. Images from file)

FMI: www.cinespace.org