Submission Criteria and Guidelines

The International Council for Traditional Music Documentary Film or Video Prize is awarded annually for an exceptional film or video. The film or video should make a significant contribution to the ICTM’s mission: “To promote research, documentation, safeguarding, and sustainability of music, dance, and related performing arts, taking into account the diversity of cultural practices, past and present, and scholarly traditions worldwide.”

Criteria: Films or videos must be released in English or with English subtitles within the previous two calendar years. The directors (or at least one of the co-directors) must be current ICTM members. Only one film or video by the same director (or co-director) will be considered in a given year, and no film or video will be considered more than once. Members of the Prize Committee or Subcommittee may not submit films for which they are the director or a co-director.

Submission Process: Submissions / nominations must be received by 1 March, accompanied by a brief statement (not more than 200 words) explaining why the film or video is worthy of being awarded the Prize. The statement must be submitted in PDF format to prizes-films@ictmusic.org. The film or video may be submitted as a video file, or the director may provide a link to a streaming version of the film or video.

Administration: The Prize Committee, in consultation with the Executive Board, will appoint a Subcommittee to evaluate the submissions. The winner of the previous year’s Prize will be invited to join the next year’s Subcommittee.

Award: The winner will receive a certificate and a two-year ICTM membership or an equivalent travel subsidy to attend an ICTM event. Prize winners will be announced at the World Conference or in the summer of a non-conference year.

Past recipients of the ICTM Film or Video Prize

2022

Winner

• Baldassarre, Antonio. 2021. Mussem, 1 hour 28 min

Honourable mentions

• Rappoport, Dana. 2020. Death of the One who Knows. 1 hour 24 min
• Wolf, Richard Kent. 2022. Two Poets and a River. 2 hours 4 min

Read the announcement of the 2022 ICTM prize winners here.

2021

Winner

• Zoe Sherinian. Sakthi Vibrations. 2019.

Honourable mention

• Juan Castrillon. Kiraiñia (Long Flutes). 2019.

Read the announcement of the 2021 ICTM prize winners here.

2020

Winner

• Qiaoqiao Cheng. Home Coming—The Ethnography of Dong (Kam) People’s New Year. Shanghai Music Publishing House and Shanghai A&V Electronic Literature and Publishing House, 2019.

Honourable mention

• Steven Feld. Voices of the Rainforest. Documentary Educational Resources, 2019.

Read the announcement of the 2020 ICTM prize winners here.