Call for submissions
Women and Film History International Announces Their Inaugural 2026 Student Project Award
Apply by September 15, 2026
The Women and Film History International (WFHI) Student Project Award recognizes exceptional scholarly or creative work engaging women’s labor in historical cinema industries and cultures worldwide. We are defining women from a broad, anti-racist, trans-inclusive perspective. Sponsored by the San Francisco Film Preserve, the award consists of a monetary prize of $600 USD and publication of the winning project by a professional feminist publication or film and media outlet (subject to revision and with strategic editorial support). The Student Project Award committee—composed of at least two WFHI steering committee members—will evaluate the submissions and the winner will be announced in November at Entr'acte 2026.
The annual WFHI/SFFP Student Project Award is designed to excite interest in WFHI’s mission of promoting the intersectional research, preservation, and exhibition of—as well as creative engagement with—all periods of women’s global film history; encourage public awareness of women’s participation in historical cinema industries and cultures worldwide; and further historical, theoretical, political, and/or aesthetic evaluations of film culture that understand women’s participation as a defining feature.
WFHI is a gender diverse, anti-racist, and trans-inclusive organization that strives to intervene in relation to dominant historical narratives that have largely excluded women, LGBTQIA+ folks, and other historically marginalized peoples. WFHI is committed to fostering and supporting scholarly, archival, and creative work that illuminates and expands our understanding of the past in order to better understand and meet the challenges of the present.
Submissions should be innovative, thought-provoking feminist projects that further the historical, theoretical, political, and/or aesthetic evaluations of film culture with women’s participation as a defining feature.
Project Award Categories
Essays under 7,000 words
Video essays and other videographic work under 7 minutes
Criteria
Projects will be evaluated on the basis of critical engagement and originality.
All entrants must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at the time of submission, or have received a degree no earlier than January 2025. If you are a non-degree student or are not currently enrolled and wish to submit a project, please reach out in advance to WFHIAwards@gmail.com
Projects prepared by students to fulfill course requirements may be self-submitted by students or nominated by professors and submitted with the student’s permission.
Each student may enter only one project.
Previously published or distributed work is not eligible.
All essay submissions (under 7,000 words) will be formatted as PDFs and submitted to WFHIAwards@gmail.com. Please include your name and institutional affiliation in the header. Please attach a 250-word abstract and 50-75 word bio.
Video essay submissions: please submit a PDF to WFHIAwards@gmail.com with a 300-word statement, 50-75 word bio, and link to a YouTube or Vimeo file. Please set the video to unlisted or provide a password with the link. Please include your name and institutional affiliation in the PDF header.
Submissions must be in English
Deadline: September 15, 2026
The winning student will receive $600 USD, publication of the winning project by a professional feminist or film and media outlet (subject to revision and with strategic support through the editorial process), and a WFHI membership.
Learn about membership here: https://www.wfhi.org/join.