Nikon has announced the winners of its prestigious Film and Photo Contest 2024-2025, one of the world's largest photography and filmmaking competitions. This year's competition centered around the theme "Inspire," drawing submissions from 180 countries and regions worldwide. The contest, which has been running for more than 50 years as a photography-focused event, expanded to include filmmakers last year.
The competition recognized outstanding work across multiple categories, awarding Grand Prizes for Single Photo and Photo Story categories, as well as two winners in the Short Film competition for Super-Short Film and 5-minute Film categories. Each of the photo categories also featured five special award winners, with similar recognition extended to the filmmaking categories.
Lead Judge Sarah Leen praised this year's submissions, stating, "Being involved with the contest as Lead Judge again on this panel of judges was an invaluable experience. I was particularly impressed by how much stronger each individual entry was this year compared to the previous contest. The Inspire theme encouraged a wide range of entries, and the diverse creativity expressed was impressive. We received many fascinating works, including beautiful landscapes and portraits, that clearly reflected this theme."
Finnish photographer Tiina Itkonen claimed the Grand Prize in the Single Photo category with her striking image titled "Jonas." The photograph captures an Inughuit boy in Savissivik, one of Greenland's most remote settlements located over a thousand kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Itkonen explained the challenging environment, noting that "this far north the polar night lasts four months and midnight sun shines for four months as well."
Itkonen, who first traveled to Greenland 30 years ago and has returned regularly to document the polar landscape and its inhabitants, emphasized her approach to building relationships with her subjects. "When visiting Savissivik I wanted to take time to get to know people. I spent 95 percent of my time socializing with the people and only 5 percent taking photographs," she remarked. "I am grateful for the hospitality of these people. I have been allowed to take part in their everyday life and always feel very much at home in this place."
In the Photo Story category, Chinese photographer Lei Yang won the Grand Prize with the series "Farewell-able," which explores the photographer's experiences of saying goodbye to their hometown. Yang created this work before moving to Japan, capturing the emotional complexity of departure. "This series was made before I came to Japan. At that time, I parted with people, places, and versions of myself. I realized that some separations are simple, while others are filled with sorrow – those are farewells. Farewell-able explores the emotional scale of goodbye through what I found hardest to release," Yang explained.
The photographer expressed deep gratitude for the recognition, stating, "I'm deeply grateful to Nikon for selecting this work. It has allowed a personal farewell to be seen by more people."
The Short Film competition showcased exceptional creativity in two categories. Iranian filmmaker Hamed Nobari won the Super-Short Film category with "The Small Red, Big Blue," a 40-second video featuring a tiny fish in a small water puddle on a beach while a child digs a water channel in the sand leading back to the ocean. This brief but powerful piece demonstrated how impactful storytelling can be achieved in minimal time.
Nigerian filmmaker Ademola Falomo took the Grand Prize in the 5-Minute Film category with "Finding Serenity." The film was inspired by musician Yamika's poem during the COVID-19 lockdowns, with Falomo collaborating with friends to bring the poem to life through visual storytelling. The work explores themes of finding peace in chaos and discovering beauty in uncertainty.
Falomo reflected on his achievement, saying, "I am deeply grateful for the acknowledgment of this small dream that has grown into something seen around the world. Created in Lagos, Nigeria, during troubling and uncertain times, this film is a celebration for me, a testament to turning a poem into a visual artifact. What once lived only in my mind now lives on screen, and that is a gift I will always cherish."
The competition also recognized numerous other talented photographers and filmmakers with special awards. In the Single Photo category, additional winners included Liew Hong Hooi's "I Am Unstoppable!" which received the General Public Award, Andre Ferreira's "Kite Festival," and Farshid Ahmadpour's "Hunter," both Excellence Award winners. Special Encouragement Awards went to Emmanuel Lucky for "We See Angels," Stelios Tsagris for "Evening Passenger," and Xianhui Fang for "Mom's Scent."
The Photo Story category featured equally impressive work, with Excellence Awards going to Nils Böddingmeier for his series "Nel mio sangue (In my blood)" and Yi Liu for "The Stage of Life." Special Encouragement Awards were presented to Ximeng Tu for "Return From a Journey," Kang-Chun Cheng for "Maasai Children of Malanja," and Jacek Gąsiorowski for "American Dreaming."
The winning entries are currently being showcased to the public through various exhibitions. The award-winning works are on display in Japan until October 27 as part of the T3 Photo Festival Tokyo 2025 at Tokyo Square Garden. Additionally, the winning photographs and films will be exhibited at Nikon facilities in Kyoboshi, Tokyo, and in other cities around the world, allowing global audiences to experience these inspiring works firsthand. The complete collection of winning entries is also available for viewing on Nikon's official website.
