Youth Short Film Competition 2021

Winning films 2021


1st Place:
Heartbeat

by Lucia Lamosová, Tomás Kucera, Barbora Hýblová, Erik Scherer, Daniel Saberi
GBZA Bilingválne Gymnázium, Zilina, (SVK)


2nd Place:
Menschenhandel

by students of BBS Rohrbach (AUT)


2nd Place:
The Avalanche

by Ema Machová, Eliska Urmínová, Natalia Ortová
Spojená skola sv. Frantiska z Assisi, Bratislava (SVK)


2nd Place:
Die nächsten Kriege

by students of Höhere Lehranstalt für Kunst und Gestaltung, Wien (AUT)


3rd Place:
Only Together

by students of Mittelschule Deutsch Wagram, 4a (AUT)

Call for Films:

THE FUTURE IS OURS TO SEE

"We can see our future #OnlyTogether!"

The International Film Festival on Human Rights this human world (thw) will hold the Short Film Competition on Human Rights 2021 under the auspices of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Austria, the Climate and Energy Fund Austria and the Chief Executive Office of the City of Vienna for European and International Affairs in cooperation with schools in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Students from 10 to 20 years old are invited, as a class or individually, to develop short films inspired by the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After a year in which inequality and challenges have become ever more evident, we want to emphasize the importance of solidarity and cooperation. The multitude of conflicts in recent years have shown that cooperation which exceeds borders, sectors, and generations is needed in order to face them.
Hence, the theme of this year's competition:

We can see our future #OnlyTogether!


The following questions can serve as a starting point:

1. What kind of future do we want to create?
2. What are we doing to create our future respectfully, thoughtfully, and free of violence?
3. What and how do we consume? How do we handle the supply of cheap goods in areas like lifestyle and nutrition etc.?
4. How can we jointly address global displacement and avoid people being forced to flee due to economic and political conflict or climate change?


The aim of this competition is to bring human rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with its 30 articles closer to young people, giving students an opportunity for critical reflection on these issues and offering a platform for young, committed filmmakers to present their work.

The film submissions will be reviewed by an international jury. The short film, which is awarded the Jury prize, will be shown in the framework of a movie night within the international film festival this human world, which will take place from the 2nd until 12th of December 2021 in Vienna/online.

After numerous and qualitatively outstanding submissions in the last twelve years, we are looking forward to inspiring and exciting contributions from individual students or group works from school classes again in 2021. The competition will be internationally advertised by the UN partner organizations and announced among local educational institutions in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Framework conditions for the competition:
The competition is open to children and teenagers aged 10 to 20. The film entries can be submitted by students individually or as school class. The maximum length of the short films should be 3 minutes. The film entries can be produced and edited using any means provided by the schools and/or available to the students. From professional video camera to phone camera everything is welcome, and every genre is allowed.

The registration for the competition should be send via Email to schulfilmprojekt@thishumanworld.com by the 20th of June 2021.

Registration should include:

  • Name and address of the school
  • Name and contact details of the person of contact in the school (teacher)
  • Age and number of the participating students
  • The students and legal guardians of minors, by the submission of film entries by their daughter/son, agree that photo and video material of the award ceremony (photos of the winners/interviews with participants) can be published in media and on websites of the issuing institutions (UNIS, UNHCR, Climate and Energy Fund Austria, City of Vienna, THIS HUMAN WORLD), as well as in social networks.
  • Replies in English or German please

The deadline to submit the film entries for the competition is 5th of November 2021.
Submission via email to: schulfilmprojekt@thishumanworld.com


Winners 2020

1. Prize: Let's Build the Future together, by Lucia Poláková

2. Prize: Dark Dreams On My Mind, by Veronika Matusáková, Nika Moravanská, Zuzana Gálová, Patricia Sturdíková, Soňa Földiová

2. Prize: Vienna Times, 31. Oktober 2050, by the 4B of Bundesgymnasiums 18, Vienna

Click here to watch the films and the jury statement on our youtube channel