FW: RI Nature Video Festival 2026 call for videos

[ger...@mindspring.com]

Reminder and happy to answer questions.  greg

 

Submit your videos for the 2026 RI Nature Video Festival

THE 2025 RHODE ISLAND NATURE VIDEO FESTIVAL IS NOW ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS 

The Rhode Island Nature Video Festival is back again in 2026.   

 

This Eighth Annual Festival will be hosted LIVE at Rhode Island College (RIC) on Saturday, February 21 2026, snow date Sunday February 22.

 

Organized and curated by the RI NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY, the RIC Environmental Club and Film Studies Program, Ocean State Film Society, and Friends of the Moshassuck, all video submissions meeting inclusion criteria will be part of the online YouTube show. From among all qualifying videos, curators will select up to 75 minutes of videos for inclusion in the show reel to be shown live at the festival. We especially encourage youth to send in videos, and will work with Youth oriented organizations to help make that happen.

 

Rhode Island has a great abundance of nature in our lands and waters and cities. And these days most people carry a camera every day that's capable of interesting video. This is a perfect opportunity to get started sharing your videos with a wider audience. All styles of nature video are welcome, from a single encounter to edited and narrated storytelling and documentation. All amateurs and professionals are invited, and new submitters are especially encouraged! 

 

The entry rules are below. Submit a video by emailing your name, contact information, and a link to your video to ger...@mindspring.com by 8 pm January 16, 2026. If you have any questions email Greg or if you prefer you may call 401-374-5186. 

We look forward to your submissions,  

Greg Gerritt 

YouTube: Moshassuckcritters 

David Gregg for RI Natural History Survey 

YouTube: rinaturalhistory 

 

How to submit a video and all the fine print 

RI Nature Video Festival Submission deadline January 16, 2026 

Videos eligible for entry must be: 

·  Your own work (singly or plural) 

·  No longer than 7 minutes 

·  Recorded substantially in Rhode Island or nearby waters (incidental shots from elsewhere that make sense within the context of the video may be acceptable) 

·  Recorded after December 1, 2024 (incidental shots from earlier that make sense within the context of the video may be acceptable) 

·  About some sort of nature in Rhode Island...animal, vegetable, mineral, trail, water, activity...but it must at least focused on natural or naturalized plants, animals, or natural features (see below for more details) 

·  Posted online and submitted by emailing a link for the video to the email address given 

 

Also: 

·  One video submission per person

 

·  Please no videos focusing on domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, pet fish, pet birds, or farm animals or on exotic species such as primates or tropical reptiles (although incidental inclusion may be okay depending on the subject of the video). Depiction of yards, farms, gardens, or other human-mediated habitats are fine, for example videos showing the science of soil or the wild critters and plants in the garden would be eligible. 

 

·  Activities and interaction with wildlife in the video must be carried out in compliance with applicable Rhode Island and federal law and regulation.  

 

·  Animals in videos must be ranging freely or headed for release, such as a netted sample of fish or wildlife that’s being rehabilitated. Please no hunting videos. 

 

·  Any video longer than 45 seconds, other than an unedited scene in nature, must include credits, and videos with copyright violations shall be rejected. (Where did you get that music?)  

 

·  Video makers can be amateur or professional videographers; however, the resources available to the maker may be a criterion in considering a video for inclusion in the February 21 event or the prizes. Please tell us of your experience and resources if you do this work professionally when submitting your video. 

 

Submitting a video is explicit permission for the RI Natural History Survey to screen it in the February 21 event, to include your video with others in the show reel, post it on YouTube and to use stills, short clips, or descriptions of your video in publicity about the Video Festival. All submissions remain the property of their makers/owners. 

 

The organizers of the Festival will have sole discretion as to whether a video meets the rules specified here and thus is eligible for inclusion in the Festival, who the curators are, which videos are shown in the February 21 event and in what order.  

 

Based on submissions, the organizers will create categories partly to guide the order of presentation at the festival and partly to make sure that we show the diversity of the community and Nature in Rhode Island. In picking videos for the February DATE event, the organizers may give consideration to the age, experience, and resources of video makers in order to foster diversity of participants and perspectives. Places will be reserved for children under twelve, teens, and students. 

 

We highly encourage folks to go outside a make a new video just for the show. We shall have a special panel of community members with interests in Nature videos to select which videos will be in the show on February 21 and which will be presented as on-line only, view-on-your-own videos. All videos submitted (if appropriate) will be included in the on-line submissions of entrants.