About the Award
Our annual juried award shines a light on bold Scottish filmmaking that reimagines our relationship with the natural world. With a £500 cash prize, it honours originality, impact, and creative vision in environmental storytelling. Finalists screen throughout the weekend, with the winner announced at Closing Night.
2025 Finalists
- In the Flame We Reveal Ourselves
- Itu Ninu
- Lost for Words
- The Pine Hunters
- Tracing Light
- When Fish Begin to Crawl
- The World We Make is Shaped by the Stories We Tell
Experience the talent of this year's finalists on the big screen at the Montrose Playhouse during the Montrose LandxSea Film Fest, from 12-14 September 2025.
Meet the 2025 Awards Jury
We are honoured to introduce our esteemed international jury for this year's North Light Award:
Daniesky Acosta - DaniFilms
Dani is a Cuban filmmaker and founder of DaniFilms. Born in rural eastern Cuba, he worked on his family’s organic farm and studied digital design in Havana before earning a first-class degree in Media and Design from London Metropolitan University. A former developer, designer, and editor, his recent documentaries on Cuba’s response to COVID-19 and climate change premiered at COP26. His film Cuban Bees—The Organic Revolution screened at LandxSea 2024, with his latest film The Magic of Mending premiering at this year's festival.
Katherine Bruce - Executive Director, Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival, Canada
Katherine has an extensive background in producing film, theatre, and visual arts, and previously served as Development Director at UK-based Cape Farewell’s Carbon 14: Climate is Culture in partnership with ROM Contemporary Culture. Katherine holds an MA in Communication and Cultural Studies with a research focus on fresh water as both a commodity and a human right. She currently serves as Board Co-Chair of the international Green Film Network (GFN).
Karen Ridgewell - Climate Emergency & Sustainability Lead, Creative Scotland
Acting on the climate breakdown has been the motivation for Karen’s work for over 15 years. It began at university when working on volunteer projects in Brighton and has continued throughout her time within architectural practice, a national contractor, an active travel charity and Architecture & Design Scotland. Karen joined Creative Scotland as the Climate Emergency and Sustainability Lead in January 2023 and is focusing on the delivery of the ambition that was set out in their co-designed Climate Emergency and Sustainability Plan.
Award Announcement
The North Light Award 2025 will be presented at the start of the closing night screening, Sunday 14 September, 7.30pm.
Congratulations to all the nominees!
Thank you North Light Award Sponsor
Lisa Kentgen
Festival awards handmade in Montrose by
Photos from top: Tracing Light; Itu Ninu; Lost for Words; When Fish Begin to Crawl.