The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has launched the 2026 edition of its Video Prize for Indigenous Youth, creating an international platform for young members of Indigenous Peoples to tell stories about their communities, cultural heritage and traditional knowledge through video.

The theme for this year’s competition is “Indigenous Peoples’ Know-How and Creativity in Action.” Participants are being invited to document how traditional knowledge and cultural expressions continue to be practiced and expressed in contemporary community life.

Bringing Traditional Knowledge to the Screen

The initiative focuses on the knowledge, skills and creative traditions passed from one generation to another. Young filmmakers can use short videos to show practices that remain meaningful within their communities.

Possible subjects include traditional crafts such as weaving, pottery, beadwork and carving, as well as storytelling, performances, food preparation, traditional remedies and practices connected with agriculture, the environment or medicine.

WIPO says the competition is intended to help make the creativity of Indigenous youth more widely known while increasing awareness of how intellectual property tools, including copyright, can help protect creative works.

Traditional cultural expressions can include music, dance, art, designs, performances, ceremonies, handicrafts and narratives. WIPO describes these expressions as important parts of the cultural identity and heritage of Indigenous and local communities.

Opportunity for Young Indigenous Creators

The competition is open to members of Indigenous Peoples who are located in WIPO Member States and are between 18 and 35 years old on November 6, 2026. Each participant may submit one entry, and the video and accompanying description must be prepared by the participant.

Entries must be submitted by November 6, 2026, at 23:59 Geneva time. Participation is free.

WIPO also specifies that appropriate consent should be obtained when traditional knowledge or traditional cultural expressions are being recorded. Videos should not disclose sacred, secret or sensitive cultural content.

Awards and Training

The competition includes several awards. The first-place winner will receive digital equipment valued at up to USD 4,000, while the second- and third-place prizes provide equipment valued at up to USD 3,000 and USD 2,000 respectively.

A People’s Choice Prize valued at up to USD 1,000 is also planned. In addition, producers of the top 15 entries will have access to training opportunities through the WIPO Academy.

The finalists are scheduled to be announced on November 30, 2026, followed by a public vote for the People’s Choice Prize from November 30 to December 15. The winning entries are expected to be announced in March 2027.

Protecting Cultural Creativity

The competition also highlights a wider issue surrounding intellectual property and Indigenous cultural heritage. Traditional knowledge and cultural expressions can contain knowledge and creative practices that communities have maintained over generations.

WIPO works with Indigenous Peoples and local communities on ways to better understand and protect traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions. Its programs include training on documenting cultural heritage and understanding intellectual property rights.

For participating filmmakers, the Video Prize offers an opportunity to present their communities from their own perspective while demonstrating how traditional practices continue to evolve and remain relevant in modern life.

The 2026 initiative therefore combines filmmaking, cultural storytelling and intellectual property awareness, giving Indigenous youth a platform to document the knowledge and creativity that form an important part of their communities’ heritage.