© Bram Busink · Falling apart · Race series · Amsterdam 2026 · Best Theme
How it's judged
Five dimensions and one test. The first three dimensions are UPR's pillars, the grammar of visual storytelling, and they carry the most weight.
The five dimensions. The three pillars come first, each with a race series that shows it.
Visual thread
The three frames share a visual language: tone, a recurring element, consistent framing. They read as one work.
© Esther Gerritsen · In motion · Race series · Brussels 2026 · Best Theme
Conceptual unity
They explore one idea from different angles. Frame two adds to frame one, it does not repeat it.
© Siebe Jacxsens · Out of place · Race series · Brussels 2026 · Best Theme
Narrative arc
Setup, development, resolution: reorder the frames and something is lost.
© Siebe Jacxsens · Transformation · Race series · Eindhoven 2024 · Best Theme
Theme interpretation
How clearly and originally the series reads the season's theme. A clear point of view is rewarded, the obvious reading is not.
Craft
Composition, light, timing and technical control.
Take a frame away. If the idea weakens, it is a series
If it still stands, that frame was decoration. This is the remove-one test, and every series is read with it.
Decide what it is about.
A series is decided before it is shot. What you decide is not the pictures: it is the one thing all three frames are about. Each frame then looks at that idea from its own angle. It sets it up, turns it or resolves it. Where the three overlap is the series.
Three jurors per season, two of them standing. The third is a guest seat that changes every season, so the panel never settles into one way of seeing.
Anonymised
No names are visible to the jury until the podium is fixed. Your series is judged as work, not as a reputation.
Chosen by the jury
The shortlist and the winners are chosen by the jurors.
Agreed together
The three jurors agree the podium together.
The panel is published in full when the call opens, before you pay anything. You always know who reads your work.
More about the Series Award.
Entries open in 2027
Submissions are not open yet. Join the list and we will write to you when the first season opens and when its theme is announced.