Film News: Film Photo Award

Now normally I am not one to post info about competitions. There have been some in the recent past that seem really shady in the way they use your images *cough-Apple-cough*. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that this competition isn’t going to use your images to sell cat food or anything.

The Film Photo Award is a twice a year competition which aims to showcase and support emerging photographers. And the really cool, thing is that you can win film. And not just a bit of film, a veritable buttload of the stuff. Right up to 4×5! What is not to like?

The only quibble I have is that there is an entry fee, but even then it is not terribly high and you have a good chance of getting a ton of film, so that balances it out for me.

The official blurb

Film Photo Award delivers three distinct grants of Kodak Professional Film to emerging, established, and student photographers worldwide to complete film-based photography. 

Williamsburg, Va. – Film Photo Award (FPA) is pleased to announce the availability of three distinct film grants, twice per year, to emerging, established, and student photographers worldwide who demonstrate a serious commitment to the field and are motivated to continue the development of still, film-based photography in the 21st century. FPA is made possible through the generous support of Kodak Alaris.


The first award cycle opens for submission on February 1, 2019 at filmphotoaward.com and closes on March 31, 2019 at 11:59pm EST.  

Film Photo Award embraces the unique, artistic medium of film photography, and recognizes the sacrifice film photographers make to acquire the material for their artistic expression. This award exists to democratize access to film by facilitating proposed projects with a supply of Kodak Professional Film for photographers dedicated to film-based image making. 

Three Film Photo Awards will be granted each spring and fall award cycle: New Project Award, Continuing Project Award, and Student Project Award. All applicants will select their choice of film format (35mm, 120, or 4×5) and Kodak Professional Film emulsion (Portra 160, Portra 400, Ektar 100, Tri-X 400/320, T-Max 100, or T-Max 400).

Awardees of the New Project Award and Continuing Project Award will choose to receive either 200 rolls of 35mm, 200 rolls of 120mm, or 300 sheets of 4×5 to complete their proposed projects. Recipients of the Student Project Award will choose to receive either 100 rolls of 35mm, 100 rolls of 120mm, or 150 sheets of 4×5 to complete their proposed project. 

The inaugural Spring 2019 award cycle, which opens for submission on February 1st, will be juried by Aline Smithson. Smithson is a film photographer and a pillar of the photographic community for her continued support of artists and organizations. Smithson is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the photography website, Lenscratch

The first award recipients will be announced on April 19, 2019. More information regarding deadlines and submission guidelines is available on their website (http://filmphotoaward.com) and Instagram (http://instagram.com/filmphotoaward).

So there it is. A fantastic competition that could also give you some epic support if you win. Head over to the site and get involved. 

JCH