Judging is now underway and successful videos will make their way through multiple rounds of evaluation, until our panel of judges arrives ...
THEME: Your Message to the President
What issue is most important to you or your community? Examine your selected topic from multiple perspectives and assess what action(s) the president should take after Inauguration Day.
About StudentCam
The submission deadline for the 2025 competition has now passed.
Students, our judges are excited to view the results of your hard work! A warm thank you to all of the teachers, parents, guardians, interviewees and other participants who have contributed to the work of the students participating in this year’s competition.
If you have questions about your entry, please email us at educate@c-span.org.
Also, if you are under the age of 18, don’t forget to have your parental/guardian release form digitally signed by February 1. All participating students under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian review and digitally sign the Release Form. (Google Form)
StudentCam is C-SPAN’s annual national video documentary competition that encourages students to think critically about issues that affect our communities and our nation.
In this presidential inaugural year, we asked students in grades 6-12 to create a short (5:00-6:00 minute) video documentary on a topic that related to the competition theme, “Your Message to the President.”
The submission deadline for all entries was Inauguration Day on Monday, January 20, 2025.
C-SPAN will announce the winners and award cash prizes totaling $100,000 to the student filmmakers of the top 150 student documentaries, as well as their teacher advisers, on Wednesday, March 12.
There are just hours until the StudentCam 2025 submission deadline! With snow, ice and inclement weather expected around parts of the country, ...
Consider sharing photos from behind the scenes of your documentary production for your chance to win a $100 cash prize!
This year, C-SPAN ...
The Prize-Winning Entries will be announced on Wednesday, March 12 at 9am ET
All Grades from 6-12
This annual competition is open to all students in grades 6-12. Grades 6-8 compete in the Middle School category, and grades 9-12 compete in the High School category.
For more information about the prize divisions, visit our Prizes page.
compete individually/teams
Students may compete individually, or in teams of either 2 or 3 members.
Should your documentary win a prize, the awarded dollar amount will be split evenly among the students responsible for the production of the documentary.
CLIPS oF C-SPAN FOOTAGE
Documentaries must include clips of C-SPAN video that relate to the chosen topic.
Consider using short clips that provide historical background, additional context, or supporting and opposing ideas about how to address your topic.
viewpoints
Winning StudentCam documentaries will thoroughly explore a variety of viewpoints related to the chosen topic, including those that may oppose the filmmakers points of view.
You are welcome to share your personal point of view but you should also spend time during your documentary exploring opposing points of view. We also highly recommend that you interview experts about their thoughts on your chosen subject.
DOCUMENTARY Length
Your documentary must be between 5:00-6:00 minutes in length.
Documentaries shorter than 5:00 minutes, or longer than 6:00 minutes, will be disqualified.
*End credits (if applicable) must begin after the 5:00 minute mark and are permitted to run longer than the allotted 6:00 minute maximum time frame of your actual documentary.
CITATIONS
Entries must include either end credits or a works cited list.
You may use whichever format you currently use at your school to cite sources, but information used in your research, along with any background music or video (other than C-SPAN footage), must be cited appropriately and clearly, with links to that referenced work.
