Introducing the MBP Geographical Better World Video Awards
Inspire us. Tell us a story that matters, and celebrate the people making a difference. Share your videos about how to make the world a better place.
We’ve teamed up with MPB, the global platform for buying and selling used photo and video kit, and world-renowned eco-resort Wakatobi in Indonesia, to launch the MPB Geographical Better World Video Awards.
Share with our readers a film – short or long – that tells an exciting story about those affecting the changes needed to make our planet safer, healthy and more sustainable.
It could be a small local campaign, a personal journey that helps others, a new insight into a big issue, the story of an expedition or research project – the choice is yours. We want to provide a platform that highlights the exciting changes that are going on around us and encourages others to help make the world a better place.
The best entries will be showcased on our website and in the printed edition of Geographical, and the winners and highly commended will be featured in a special awards event early next year. You have until 31 January 2024 to send us your films.
The winners will receive vouchers to spend with MPB, the world’s leading platform for trading photo and video gear, a donation to the campaign of their choice and £3,000 toward a life-changing trip to Wakatobi, an eco-resort in southern Sulawesi in Indonesia.
We’re looking for great short films that move and delight. They can be slick, professional edits or more rudimentary basic video storytelling. The important thing is the strength and power of the story.
As the placards say, there is no planet B – this is your chance to show what’s being done to ensure that we all live in a secure and healthy world. Encourage others to make a difference.
Categories
Under 18s
Make an under-three-minute video on any subject that illustrates our Better World theme. It could be about a campaign you support, a local conservation effort, an important subject you think needs highlighting or the story of one person who’s making a difference. The winner will receive a £500 voucher to spend with MPB.
Over 18s
l Short Take: an inspiring under-three-minute short film telling a Better World story. The winner will receive a £500 MPB voucher.
l A Better World: a film more than three minutes in length (no maximum duration) that tells an important story. The winner will receive a £500 voucher from MPB and US$3,000 towards a trip of a lifetime to Wakatobi in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Groups
Open to any organisation, charity, campaign group, school, college, university or team of friends who want to make a film focusing on a big issue. The film must be more than two minutes in length. The winners will receive a £500 voucher from MPB and a £1,000 donation to a charity or group they nominate.
Our partners
MPB
MPB is the largest global platform for buying, selling and trading used photo and video kit. It’s a simple, safe and circular way to trade, upgrade and get paid for kit. Every year, MPB recirculates more than 485,000 cameras, lenses and accessories.
It promotes inclusive visual storytelling and helps photographers and videographers in their efforts to have the best tools with which to tell their stories.
Sustainability is at the heart of the business. All packaging is 100 per cent plastic free. Its cloud-based platform uses 100 per cent renewable electricity. It sends zero waste to landfill and aims to be net-zero carbon in all areas by 2035.
Wakatobi
This small resort on a tiny island in remote southern Sulawesi was founded nearly 30 years ago with big ambitions. It wanted to transform a marine environment ravaged by destructive fishing and work with the local community to build a sustainable and economically viable future for the region. Today, Wakatobi National Park covers 1.4 million hectares – 65 per cent of which is now thriving coral reefs. It employs 300 locals, supplies free electricity to a nearby village of 500 inhabitants and provides education and conservation support to 17 villages in the region.
How to enter
Upload your video file to YouTube (unlisted) and send us a link by 23.59 on 31 December 2023. Please send the link to [email protected] and clearly state which category you are entering (see above).
Video lengths. Under 18s Category: Maximum 3 minutes. Over 18 Short Take: Maximum 3 minutes. Over 18 A Better World: Minimum 3 minutes. Groups: Minimum of 2 minutes.
Please include the competition logo as the last frame in your video (see above).
All entries must be the original work of the individual or group making the submission, though creators are permitted to use existing audio, video or photographs in their entry provided any required permissions have been obtained and the rights-holders are appropriately acknowledged.
Entry email
In your entry email you must include your full name, age if under 18, your postal address and name of organisation and contact details if it is a Group entry.
Please include a brief description of your film of no more than 250 words.
The winners
The winners will be announced in the March 2024 edition of Geographical and on our website on Monday, 26 February 2024
The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning their decisions.
Prizes
Prizes are non-transferable, and there is no cash alternative. MPB will only be able to supply prize vouchers to entrants based in the UK, Europe and the USA. Any film-makers based elsewhere are eligible to enter, and if they have winning films, then they will receive the same exposure as all other winning videos, but due to unavoidable logistical issues, prizes will not be given, and no other compensation will be given in lieu of the advertised prizes.
Dates for the trip to Wakatobi will need to be mutually agreed with the winner and Wakatobi. The prize is a voucher for $3,000 (US dollars) towards a trip to Wakatobi – it does not include international flights or insurance.
Terms & Conditions
Geographical magazine, MPB and Wakatobi will have the non-exclusive right to show all entries on their websites and Geographical’s YouTube channel. Geographical, MPB and Wakatobi will also have the right to use extracts from entries in promoting the awards.
Entrants agree on their behalf, and on behalf of their respective heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns (‘Released Parties’) to release, defend and hold harmless Geographical magazine, MPB and Wakatobi and any partner involved, as well as the employees, officers, directors and agents of each, from any and all actions, causes of action, suits, expenses, lost profits, indirect or direct damages, consequential damages, incidental damages, punitive or exemplary damages, judgments, claims and demands whatsoever against Released Parties arising out of or in connection with entrant’s participation, acceptance and use or misuse of any prize, including any travel-related activities.
By entering this competition, entrants agree to be bound by these rules. The laws of England and Wales govern this agreement.
