The Canon Video Grant – Short Film Documentary offers the recipient €8,000 and a loan of video kit to produce a documentary project. © Lieve Blancquaert
Applications are now open for the Canon Video Grant – Short Film Documentary, an annual award recognising the best emerging image-making talent worldwide, sponsored by Canon in association with Images Evidence.
Responding to an ever-changing media landscape in which video is becoming an increasingly essential tool for photographers, Canon launched the Grant in 2020. "This grant aims to celebrate and support up-and-coming champions of this new age of visual storytelling by giving them funding and a platform to be heard," says Richard Shepherd, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Canon EMEA.
"Canon is also arming storytellers with the innovation they need to further propel their careers in video. Just as the stills and video capabilities of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II marked the beginning of a shift in the market that enabled visual storytellers to move between stills and motion, the Canon EOS R5 with 8K video takes this a step further."
French-Swiss photojournalist Michaël Zumstein was the recipient of the inaugural Canon Video Grant – Short Film Documentary for his film project Miss Bangui. The eight-minute video documentary focuses on the organisation of the Miss Central African Republic beauty pageant and gives a voice to the participating women in a country riven by violence and civil war, which has been ongoing since 2012.
"This grant is a way to continue my work as a filmmaker," Michaël says. "I want to tell the story of the women who are fighting – not against other people, but for their freedom. They are not only taking part in a beauty contest, they are fighting for their place in the CAR."