tve biomovies is a film competition - in its third year - open to anyone aged from 9 to 99 around the world with access to a camera. You could receive US$300 to produce a 1-minute film about the environment. Which bit of the environment? Choose a category and decide. Your film could be funny or serious, an animation, a drama or a documentary.
Earth's oceans are what give our planet its identity - the blue planet, the watery globe. They support the greatest variety of life we know. They are an irreplaceable source of food, and the engine of the earth's climate. The oceans determine the nature and quality of life on planet Earth - far beyond their coastlines. But the oceans are under threat from human pressures: overfishing; pollution; building development on our coastlines; and temperature change. Films in this category will address some or all of the following questions:
Is there a future where humans can live in harmony with the oceans?
We cannot strip the oceans of their wildlife and expect the oceans to go on thriving forever. Do the oceans belong to people or wildlife?
Can we live without sea life?
This category is only open to citizens of the EBRD's 63 member states. See a full list of member countries.
Climate change affects us all but women are disproportionately affected. Women are very often responsible for making sure that the family is cared for and the extra time that they spend seeking water or food is time that they are not spending in school, in job training, in paid work, or even enjoying leisure activities. Women may even miss meals for the sake of their children, and suffer more climate-related health problems than men. They often work in agriculture which can be badly affected by climate change - where a lack of water may also mean lack of energy and power and therefore more work for them.
Films in this category will address either or both of these questions:
How does climate change affect women throughout the EBRD regions?
How can women be part of the solution to climate change?
Our rivers, lakes and the underground aquifers that feed them are the lifeblood of our planet. Weaving across countries and through our towns and cities, like veins, they deliver the water we drink and use to produce the clothes we wear, the energy we use and the food we eat – essential to support the world's growing population.
But many of our rivers are suffering from over-use of water, poor management and the effects of our changing climate. This is having a serious impact on freshwater biodiversity and water availability.
Almost 2.7 billion people already live in river basins that are suffering from water scarcity at least one month per year, and there has been a decline of 37% in freshwater species since 1970 – and as our demand for water grows we are putting even more pressure on this already threatened ecosystem. Films in this category will address these or similar questions:
What does water mean to you? And why is it so important?
What is so special about our rivers and lakes?
Why should we help protect them?
Where would we be without recycling?
If it were not for the efforts of the global recycling industry over many generations, the world would already be running short of some of its most vital raw materials. Scrap metals, recovered paper, plastics scrap and even used tyres can all be reused in place of mineral-based ores. By recycling rather than extracting these primary raw materials from the ground, carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by at least 500 million tonnes per year - and that's equivalent to the emissions generated by the airline industry worldwide.
It is estimated that 20 million people worldwide work directly or indirectly in recycling and that the industry turns over at least half a trillion US dollars every year.
Recycled fibre makes up more than half of the paper and board produced worldwide.
Films in this category will address either or both of the following questions:
How can we encourage more people to recycle?
How do you see recycling in the year 2025?
What is the true cost to the planet of the way we live our lives? At the moment we are using 25% more natural resources than the world can continue to provide and support, according to some estimates. And for those who are using more than their fair share – is their lifestyle making them content? Or could a simpler lifestyle, using less of the planet's resources, make people happier? Can you imagine what it would be like to live a life which had no impact on planet Earth? What would it mean to lifestyles where you live? Will you use fewer electrical gadgets, stop eating meat, buy a different phone, continue to use a bike rather than upgrade to a car?
Films in this category will address these or similar questions:
Can you create an advert that will persuade your friends to live within the earth's means?
Or do you know someone who tries to live sustainably – can you share that lifestyle with others through film?
What will happen to the world if we go on as we are – can you give an idea through film?
Once you've decided on the category that suits you best, send us your film proposal.
