For those who don’t know the Award: The FilmLight CAMERIMAGE Colour Awards sit outside the software stack but inside the grading ecosystem: feature, episodic, commercial and documentary colourists can enter from any finishing platform, while winners receive Baselight M access.
Entries close 31 July
The FilmLight CAMERIMAGE Colour Awards 2026 are open for submissions until 31 July 2026. The sixth edition accepts work graded on any colour grading system. The programme covers five categories: Theatrical Feature, TV Series / Episodic, Commercial, Spotlight & Documentary, and Emerging Talent.
Spotlight now includes documentaries
The former Spotlight category is now Spotlight & Documentary. It covers features and documentaries with total production budgets below $3 million. Feature entries need a minimum duration of 70 minutes, while documentaries need at least 50 minutes. Spotlight & Documentary projects may also be entered in Theatrical Feature, which is generous bureaucracy by awards standards.
Eligibility and upload specs
Eligible projects must be released between 1 September 2025 and 30 September 2026. Entrants submit through the Awardcore portal. For Theatrical Feature, TV Series / Episodic and Spotlight entries, excerpts are capped at five minutes total and must use scene sections of at least one minute.
The preferred file format is QuickTime .mov with ProRes 422 HQ, Rec.709 at 2.4 gamma, 1920×1080 resolution and the project’s native frame rate. MP4 using H.264 or H.265 is also accepted. Files with a slate, countdown, 2-pop or credits will be rejected during QC.
Emerging Talent and judging
Emerging Talent is limited to colourists aged 18 to 30 at submission, with no more than five years of professional experience. The category only accepts commercial and music video projects aired between 1 September 2025 and 30 September 2026. Feature films, episodic projects and shorts are not eligible for that category.
Each category will shortlist 10 projects, nominate four colourists and name one winner. Jury rounds run from 17 August to 6 October 2026. Winners are announced in November 2026, with prize presentations scheduled at ToruńCAMERIMAGE, which runs from 7 to 14 November 2026 in Poland.
Prizes and practical sanity
Each winner receives a one-year subscription for Baselight M, one of the Baselight for macOS products aimed at facilities that need multi-user interconnectivity. Baselight for macOS custom licences start at US$90, with annual access from US$7,500.
