Everyone is eligible to enter the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards.
COLOURISTS USING ANY TYPE OF COLOUR GRADING SYSTEMS ARE WELCOME.
The application must be submitted by a colourist (or someone competent from the post facility on his/her behalf) who performed the grade of the project.
Entrants can participate in the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards if they have reached the age of majority.
To be eligible to the TV Series/Episodic category, the colourist must have GRADED AT LEAST TWO EPISODES of the series season.
Winners receive:
- Widespread recognition through dedicated communication, social media promotion, and international press coverage.
- A one-year subscription for Baselight M.
- An invitation to attend the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards ceremony at ToruńCAMERIMAGE and a pass for the festival.
Nominees also receive a pass for the festival.
Winners from the previous year’s FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards cannot submit to the same category this year. However, previous winners may continue to submit work in other eligible categories, subject to all standard entry requirements.
We’ve put together an Entry Guide to walk you through the process of submitting your work for the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards. You can find it on the website here:
Call for Entries opens: 1 June 2026
Entry Deadline: 31 July 2026, 11:59pm Greenwich time (GMT)
Note: Projects do not have to be released by the deadline – as long as a project is released between 1 September 2025 and 30 September 2026, it is eligible for submission.
Only with the express, written permission of FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards. Please email [email protected].
There is no entry fee. The FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards is FREE to enter.
When you enter a project for the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards, you should ideally have the rights to submit your work. Note, however, that there are no public screenings of submitted segments – your project will only be viewed by FilmLight staff and jury members in order to assess its eligibility and merit to proceed to the next stage of judging.
In the eventuality that your work is nominated, the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards team may contact you in order to obtain permission to show your clip for promotion purposes.
No. You may enter ONE eligible work into each category – Theatrical Feature, TV Series / Episodic, Commercial, Spotlight or Emerging Talent.
Projects entered into the Spotlight & Documentary category may also be entered into the Theatrical Feature category.
It depends.
An entry can cover an entire TV series OR an episode. If the colourists have each graded at least two episodes of the series season (the minimum requirement for entry), they can all enter as long as they nominate a different episode within their entry.
If the series has a supervising colourist alongside colourists who grade most of the episodes, then the supervising colourist is the primary one to consider. If the supervising colourist wishes to enter for the entire series, then the other colourists cannot also enter for this series. (Also note that this means the supervising colourist won’t be able to submit another project in the same category.) If the project is nominated or wins, we are happy to credit the supervising colourist along with any other colourists.
Do note that a colourist can submit one project per category; any colourists in this situation are invited to enter other projects in this or another category.
Work must first have been aired/released for television, theatre, the Internet, mobile phone, or any other medium/screen able to deliver motion picture imagery or premiered in a film festival between: 1 September 2025 – 30 September 2026.
Note that projects released between the final submission date for entries (31 July 2026) and the final eligibility date of projects (30 September 2026) will be kept private.
All projects will be watched solely by FilmLight staff and jury members. No announcements will be made about any project without the prior agreement of the applicant.
If you have any concerns about your project and its eligibility, please contact us: [email protected].
This award seeks to find the unsung talents in the industry. It showcases the craft that contributes to the image of an entire feature film, where the project has a total budget of less than $3 million USD.
As for the Theatrical Feature category, Spotlight projects must comprise a single, original programme, exhibited or broadcast in one part.
Duration must be more than 70 minutes long.
Note: Projects submitted to the ‘Spotlight & Documentary’ category can also be entered into the ‘Theatrical Feature’ category if desired.
You can submit theatrical features or documentaries with a total budget of less than $3 million USD. Projects must also conform to the guidelines for the Theatrical Feature category; for example, they must be longer than 70 minutes.
This award seeks to recognise and celebrate the next generation of colourists. New looks and new ideas are essential to the evolution of colour grading, but to emerge as a rising star also takes an eye for detail and a dedication to the craft.
The Emerging Talent award is open to colourists aged 18-30 (at time of submission) with no more than 5 years of professional experience and is solely for commercial and music video projects aired between 1 September 2025 and 30 September 2026. Feature films, episodic projects and short films are not eligible.
The project must have been aired to be eligible for submission; projects that have been produced by students as part of an academic course at a college or university will not be eligible.
Note: Projects submitted to the Emerging Talent category cannot be entered into the Commercial category.
To be eligible, the colourist must be:
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Aged 18-30 (at time of submission)
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Have no more than 5 years of professional experience
Documentary projects can be submitted to the TV Series/Episodic category, the Spotlight & documentary category and the Theatrical Feature category. Reality TV projects are not eligible in the competition.
Yes. There are specified time limits. The submitted segment of the project must have a duration of 5 minutes maximum for the Theatrical Feature, TV Series/Episodic and the Spotlight categories, and 10 minutes maximum for all other categories . If the entry’s running time does not meet the requirement it will be disqualified.
The field Describe Scope of Your Work is mandatory for all entries. It is important that you provide as much detail as possible. Entries that do not contain a full answer may be at a disadvantage, as it makes it difficult for our jury to assess the contribution of the grade.
Entries that do not complete this section in detail may be excluded from the competition.
For example: at what stage did you get involved; how was the look developed with the DoP and director; what was the colour pipeline; how much time was spent on the grade; were there any particular challenges; did you collaborate with other departments?
Yes. For all categories, at least one piece of supporting material is strongly recommended to facilitate the judging process: Before/After or Case Study videos (ProRes or H264) and/or supporting material (PDF) can be uploaded by clicking the links in the ‘action’ column for each entry.
Please provide a written explanation to go along with it. Not to exceed 500 words. Submit your written explanation on the entry page.
. Camera log footage is not accepted as “before” material.
. All supporting materials must be provided without any on-screen credits.
. Length of the supporting material should not exceed 10 minutes.
The criteria for judging entries is a combination of aesthetics, the colourist’s creativity and technical skills.
It is important that you enter your work in the correct category.
In all categories the jury will nominate four colourists in October 2026 and award one winner, which will be announced in November 2026.
Submissions are reviewed under the following criteria:
The aesthetic quality of the image.
The continuity of the grade across the entire project in order to create a general mood.
The originality of the grade.
The collaborative effort between the DP and the colourist.
The technicality of the project and grade.
Projects will be evaluated by recognised industry experts.
Note: FilmLight is not responsible for incomplete or incorrect entries.
Judges can submit their own work. However, they will abstain from voting on their own projects or any projects submitted by their company to ensure fairness.
The jury will be announced in full by the end of July 2026.
Entries will close on 31 July 2026 with the shortlist announced end of September and nominees announced in mid-October. Nominees will receive an email prior to the public announcement.
The FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards is part of the official program of CAMERIMAGE since 2026. To maintain complete operational independence, the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards are handled separately from the main festival competition. Much like the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, we operate as an independent, featured event under the broader Camerimage umbrella while retaining our own dedicated jury and independent decision-making process.
Participation in the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards 2026 is remote, and the selection of works will take place remotely.
The winners will be announced and awards presented at ToruńCAMERIMAGE 2026 in Poland.