Entry to the 2025 Better World Video Awards is now open
With the support of our partner, Aggressor Adventures, a world-leading travel company, we’re launching the Better World Video Awards 2025.
Last year we received hundreds of entries that told amazing stories about people and projects helping to improve life on our planet. Winners included films about a community group helping to green inner-city London, campaigners fighting for animal welfare in Egypt, a project to rewild with bison, and volunteers driving lorries full of toys to refugees in Ukraine.
You have until the end of September to enter your films for this year’s awards.
Aggressor Adventures is offering a prize worth US$6,000 for two people to stay at its exclusive lodge in northern Thailand.
Your film – anything more than three minutes in length – could be a small, local campaign; a personal journey that helps others; a new insight into a big issue; the story of an expedition or research project… The choice is yours – we want to provide a platform that highlights the exciting changes going on around us and encourages others to help make the world a better place.
The best entries will be showcased on our website and in the magazine, and the winners and highly commended will be in December.
We’re looking for great short films that move and delight. They can be slick, professional edits or more rudimentary basic video storytelling. The important thing is the strength and power of the story.
To enter, load your video onto YouTube and send us a link ([email protected]) by 31 August. We will select 50 films for our readers to pick their favourites from. The ten that receive the most views when posted on our site will go through to the final public vote.
Our Partner
Aggressor Adventures has been providing world-class adventure tours for more than 40 years. It runs a fleet of scuba diving yachts around the world and has expanded into wildlife safari tours and river cruises. in 2018. It’s renowned for its high standards and exemplary service. It hosts birding tours in Egypt and Sri Lanka. It recently launched its Make A Difference Challenge programme to celebrate how its guests have helped individuals and communities, and is keen to spread the word about the Better World Video Awards.
Our Prizes
BEST INDIVIDUAL VIDEO
The Aggressor Signature Lodge is set in two hectares of glorious mountain countryside near Chiang Mai in northern Thailand and opens in November 2025. This five-star, purpose-built retreat for only 16 guests is perfect for exploring the Phra That Don Suthep Temple, many traditional Thai villages, national parks and even an elephant sanctuary, just to name a few. One winner will receive a seven-night stay for two at the Aggressor Signature Lodge in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a value of $6,000!
BEST GROUP VIDEO
The winners will receive a £3,000 advertising campaign with Geographical to run in 2026
Last year’s winners
Saving the Lungs of London by filmmaker Kingsley Obaseki tells the inspiring story of the residents of a London housing estate who stepped in to stop council contractors from mistakenly cutting down a rare, native tree in their local park. Encouraged by their success, they formed a group of volunteers who continue to preserve and develop the green space for both the local people and wildlife.
Filmmaker and founder of Orange Planet Pictures Andrew Telling and actor and animal activist Peter Egan embarked on a journey to the Al Gisa desert in Egypt. They were accompanied by Safe Haven 4 Donkeys, a British charity working to provide treatment to injured and unwell donkeys and to offer education and support for their owners. In Egypt, donkeys are used to transport the clay bricks used in building construction. Many face long hours of labour and mistreatment.
How to enter
Upload your video file to YouTube (unlisted) and send us a link by 23.59 on 30 September 2025. The earlier the better, as only those with the most views will go through to the final 10. Please send the link to [email protected] and clearly state which category you are entering (see above).
Video length. It should be a minimum of three minutes in duration.
Please include the competition logo as the last frame in your video (please download a copy of the above).
All entries must be the original work of the individual or group making the submission, though creators are permitted to use existing audio, video or photographs in their entry provided any required permissions have been obtained and the rights-holders are appropriately acknowledged.
Entry email
In your entry email, you must include your full name, age if under 18, your postal address and the name of the organisation and contact details if it is a Group entry.
Please include a brief description of your film of no more than 250 words.
Shortlist
Over the summer, we will post up to 50 of the best entrants on our website. Those which gain the most views by 30 September 2025 will go forward to the final Top 10 for a public vote.
The winners
The winners will be announced in the January edition of Geographical and on our website on 21 December 2025.
The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning their decisions.
Prizes
Prizes are non-transferable, and there is no cash alternative to the Aggressor Adventures holiday vouchers.
Terms & Conditions
Prizes are non-transferable, and there is no cash alternative to the Aggressor Adventures holiday vouchers. The holiday vouchers must be used
Geographical magazine and Aggressor Adventures will have the non-exclusive right to show all entries on their websites and Geographical’s YouTube channel. Geographical and Aggressor Adventures will also have the right to use extracts from entries in promoting the awards.
Entrants agree on their behalf, and on behalf of their respective heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns (‘Released Parties’) to release, defend and hold harmless Geographical magazine and Aggressor Adventures and any partner involved, as well as the employees, officers, directors and agents of each, from any and all actions, causes of action, suits, expenses, lost profits, indirect or direct damages, consequential damages, incidental damages, punitive or exemplary damages, judgments, claims and demands whatsoever against Released Parties arising out of or in connection with entrant’s participation, acceptance and use or misuse of any prize, including any travel-related activities.
By entering this competition, entrants agree to be bound by these rules. The laws of England and Wales govern this agreement.
