In addition to a cash award, both Nitin and Dawn received a trip for two to Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest with The Pachamama Alliance, our parent organization.

In August, Nitin and Dawn traveled to Ecuador for a once-in-a-lifetime experience among the volcanoes, cloud forest, and the Achuar people, an ancient indigenous community of the Amazon basin.

The Pachamama Journeys, the arm of The Pachamama Alliance that leads these truly transformative journeys to the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador, provide you with the rare opportunity to stay in both an Achuar village, where you’ll be invited to participate in Achuar daily traditions and most sacred ceremonies, and the renowned Kapawi Lodge, named one of the world’s top Eco-lodges by National Geographic Adventure.

The Achuar people are of Ecuador live in an intact dream culture. Journeying with The Pachamama Alliance will guarantee you an intimate encounter with them, regardless of the season.

Explore more about the Pachamama Journeys »

See the 2012 Journey Calendar and sign up »

When we launched the Possible Futures Film Contest earlier this year, we invited each and every person on the planet to share the ideas, people, projects, technologies, and ways of living that could shift our direction toward a more positive future – and the response was incredible!

As of the close of public voting today, tens of thousands of people in 162 countries around the world had watched and shared the powerful films submitted to this contest.

Thank you to everyone who participated – your commitment to a fair, peaceful, sustainable, and fulfilling world made this contest a success!

Your Votes Will Determine Five of Seven Awards

Votes received during the last three weeks will determine the People’s Choice Awards. All films entered are eligible for the Pachamama and Possible Futures Awards, and our judges are screening films and casting their votes for those two right now.

Winners will be announced on this website next Tuesday, July 26, after an awards ceremony in San Francisco. Subscribe to contest updates, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter to make sure you get the news when it breaks!

• Host your own film screening. Why not invite a group of friends over for an evening of inspiring short films? Have fun watching and voting for your favorites over tasty snacks!




• Watch and vote in one category each day. Give yourself the opportunity of an “aha” moment – on your smart-phone on the run, while you enjoy a coffee break or at home!




• Share your picks with your friends online. Use the share icons right next to the films to quickly share on Twitter, Facebook, and other channels. It’s one click away!

The films you vote for speak to your values, beliefs, and hopes for humanity’s future – find out who agrees with you!

Remember that your votes will decide the People’s Choice Awards.

All the winners will be announced on Tuesday, July 26th.

We launched voting just 24 hours ago and 2,428 people have already registered to vote!  We are deeply grateful and humbled by the response of everyone to help select the most inspiring and powerful visions of a possible future for humanity.

The Power of Your Vote

Voters have the power to select the five People’s Choice Awards while our team of esteemed judges will select the Possible Futures Award and the Pachamama Award.  Learn more about the awards »

Tips for Voting

We’ve compiled a handy list of tips for how to vote in the contest.

Voting Ends July 19th at 11:59 AM

Watch the films, make your votes, and share with your community before July 19th at 11:59 AM!

What are you waiting for? Register now to vote »

Voting is open to everyone, including filmmakers, and is as easy as these five steps:

1. Register as a voter.
2. Click the activation link in the email that is sent to you (check your spam folder if you don’t see the email after a minute or two).
3. Sign in to vote.
4. Browse films in Watch and Vote.
5. Click the “Vote For This Film” button next to the films that inspire you most.

Once you register, you can vote for over 300 visionary films, and each of them has something valuable to contribute to our possible future.

So how do you choose?

Here are eight questions to keep in mind as you watch and vote. They’re adapted from the full judging criteria, which our judges will be using to select the Pachamama and Possible Futures Awards.

Originality

• Does the theme of the story have a sense of originality and richness to it?
• Did the piece take your breath away?

Artistic Merit

• Does this film move you?
• Does the film appeal to and touch you in ways that other films just don’t?

Content

• Was this work informative, giving solutions, not simply complaints?

Overall Experience

• Did the piece elicit an inspirational emotional response?
• Would you watch this film again?
• Would you share it with others?

Two key things to remember:

• You can vote for each film only once, but you can vote for as many films as you like.
• You can’t undo a vote once it has been cast, so make sure you’re certain when you click the red “Vote” button!

Voting Ends July 19th!

You’ve got three weeks to vote for your favorite films, share with others and inspire them to vote as well.

Have fun voting – we can’t wait to see your top picks!

We are screening all 317 of the compelling, astonishing, beautiful films submitted from 44 countries around the world.

Our hearts are breaking and being refilled by your visions for our possible future, visions that are clear-eyed about the poverty, prejudice, violence, and hunger we’re facing, but just as clear-eyed about the solutions that already exist.

To all the filmmakers, those who supported them, and everyone in our community who shared this contest with the world: Thank you!

3 Things You Can Do Now to Get Ready to Vote

Voting begins Tuesday, June 28th. While we finish getting the films and website ready, there are a few things you can do:

• Register for contest updates and be notified when voting starts
• Watch some films and share your favorites via email and social networks
• Encourage others to register for contest updates so they can vote for your film next week

Change the World with Your Gratitude

More than anything, we’re humbled by the brilliance with which you answered our invitation.

This sweet video from musician/singer/songwriter/filmmaker (wow!) Guillermo Echevarria captures our feeling:

Who helped you make your film? How are you thanking them?

• We’ve uploaded 109 of your amazing, visionary, and inspiring films.
• 466 people in 25 countries have registered as filmmakers.
• Musician and pop culture writer Hugh Hart mentioned the Possible Futures Film Contest in his San Francisco Chronicle column.

We can’t wait to see what happens in the next 18 days, as we count down to the submission deadline on June 21st.

To those of you who have been thinking of entering but are now wondering if you can still create a meaningful film, we say: Yes, you can. Register now.

Your film doesn’t need a complex script, exotic locations, elaborate costumes, or even a running time of more than 2 minutes to be powerful! To prove our point, check out this moving short from purplefeather, a team of online content specialists in the UK.

What tools or resources are you using to complete your film?

You’ll find all of this and more on our Watch & Vote page, unveiled today!

Voting won’t officially begin until June 28th, but starting now you can share your favorite films with all your social networks.

Each film has a unique URL and links to share on Facebook and Twitter are one click away.

Think of yourself as the director of programming for CNN, or the editor-in-chief of TIME magazine: this is your chance to break the stories that matter and make sure they get heard.

Now that the Watch & Vote page is live, we’ll be posting new films as they come in (provided they meet the submission guidelines) until the June 21st final deadline.

To make sure you’re seeing the latest films, register as a filmmaker or subscribe to contest updates, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

“Meet” being a relative term, of course, since we’re an online film contest.

We’re so grateful for the support we’ve received from bloggers spreading the word about the Possible Futures Film Contest – on their blogs, or Facebook, or Twitter.

Today we want to introduce you to three of them. They all offer inspiration and resources we think are really valuable to anyone working for a positive possible future, through film or in other ways.

Who are your favorite bloggers? Where do you find inspiration?

• Koo over at NoFilmSchool offers all kinds of resources for “DIY filmmakers and independent creatives,” from equipment reviews to advice on working with non-actors.
• Britt Bravo blogs at Have Fun, Do Good (among other places) where she shares “ideas, inspiration and interviews for fun-loving do-gooders.” One recent post we love: Tina Seelig’s 9 Ways to Unlock Your Creativity Quotient.
• Racheblue is the artist & writer behind ecomonkey and bluangelalmanac, both of which feature creative responses and solutions to the ethical and environmental challenges facing the world, including a Transition handbook for your soul and Green Patriot posters like the one featured in this post.

We’re pretty fortunate to have an even longer list of folks supporting us, and we’ll be telling you about more of them in the coming weeks. In the meantime, tell us who your favorite bloggers are!