Dakar Foundation · Welcome to Los Angeles County
Create a 2–5 minute short film that captures the real energy, beauty, struggle and promise of Los Angeles County — told by the people who live, work, learn and create here.
Competition abstract
What does “welcome” look like — told from the point of view of the people who live here?
01
Using the spirit of the Dakar YouTube reference video as a storyboard and creative springboard, this film challenge invites emerging filmmakers, apprentices, students, and community storytellers to create short films that capture the scale, beauty, contradictions, culture, and promise of Los Angeles County. Projects should move beyond postcards and clichés to reveal the real LA County: its neighborhoods, workers, students, families, entrepreneurs, artists, public spaces, transit lines, coastlines, mountains, and untold local stories. Los Angeles County is one of the most populous counties in the United States and spans a broad mix of communities, geography, and public institutions, which makes it a strong civic storytelling canvas.
02
The challenge asks filmmakers to build a cinematic narrative that answers a simple question: What does “welcome” look like when told from the point of view of the people who live, work, learn, and create here? Films may be documentary, narrative, experimental, hybrid, AI music-driven, or vertical-first digital cinema. Each submission should reflect place, identity, movement, and belonging while offering an original visual interpretation of Los Angeles County as a living, evolving story world. The goal is not just to celebrate LA County, but to reinterpret it through fresh voices and community-based filmmaking.
Share on Instagram · TikTok · Facebook · Text: Kevin Clark, Dakar Foundation (8 Sep 2026)
Partner · LA World Cinema Games
Mitch The-Roc Richmond
NBA Hall of Fame · Olympic gold medalist · World champion
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Class of 2014 · Olympic gold, Atlanta 1996 · 2002 NBA champion, Los Angeles Lakers
YouTube · NBA · “Mitch Richmond Career Highlights”
Creative prompt
Turn a welcome film into a human story.
Create a 2–5 minute short film inspired by the theme “Welcome to Los Angeles County.” Your film should use the idea of a welcome film as an abstract foundation, but turn it into a human story. Your film should include at least 3 of these 5 elements:
3 of 5
elements, minimum
01
Place
a recognizable neighborhood, corridor, landscape, public space, campus, or cultural site
02
People
residents, workers, students, artists, elders, youth, families, or community leaders
03
Movement
walking, commuting, building, performing, learning, serving, or creating
04
Identity
language, heritage, culture, memory, aspiration, or local pride
05
Future
innovation, workforce, climate resilience, education, public service, or creative economy
Suggested storyboard framework
Five acts, one county.
This lets the video function as the abstract inspiration without forcing anyone to copy it.
1Act 1
Arrival
Open with visual impressions of LA County: streets, transit, beaches, hills, classrooms, storefronts, murals, civic buildings, or community rituals. Introduce mood and place.
2Act 2
The People
Shift from landscape to human perspective. Show who makes the county live and breathe.
3Act 3
The Work of the County
Show motion and contribution: learning, caregiving, making art, repairing, teaching, cooking, filming, coding, cleaning, leading, rebuilding.
4Act 4
The Tension
Acknowledge complexity: distance, inequality, housing, access, traffic, language barriers, climate pressure, invisibility, or forgotten neighborhoods.
5Act 5
The Welcome Reimagined
End with hope, invitation, or challenge. What does a more inclusive and truthful “welcome” look like?
Eligibility · open to
- 01Dakar apprentices and pre-apprentices
- 02Community college and university students; emerging filmmakers ages 16+
- 03LA County-based creators and teams
- 04Optional public / open division
Categories · nine awards
- 01Best Short Documentary
- 02Best Narrative Short
- 03Best Youth/Apprentice Film
- 04Best Community Portrait
- 05Best Cinematography
- 06Best Editing and Rhythm
- 07Best Use of Music and Sound
- 08Best Mobile/Vertical Film
- 09Audience Choice Award
Rules
- Runtime
- 2–5 minutes
- Format
- 16:9 horizontal preferred; vertical category optional
- Footage
- Original footage required
- Archival / phone
- Use of archival or phone footage allowed if cleared
- Screening
- Family-friendly public screening version preferred
- Entries
- Team or individual entries allowed
- Rights
- Entrants must own rights to visuals, music, and narration
Judging criteria
How the films are weighed.
Story and originality
30%How powerfully does the film interpret the theme?
Visual language
20%Composition, camera work, texture, pacing, and cinematic intention.
Connection to place
20%How strongly does the piece feel rooted in Los Angeles County?
Emotional impact
15%Does it move the audience, surprise them, or deepen understanding?
Craft
15%Editing, sound, structure, titles, color, and polish.
Prize structure
Proposed prize options (subject to funding).
Proposed prize options (subject to funding). Kevin Clark's draft: “You can scale this depending on budget.” Neither option is a commitment until the Foundation announces it.
Community Challenge
- 1st Place
- $2,500
- 2nd Place
- $1,000
- 3rd Place
- $500
- Audience Choice
- gear / access /
software bundle
Apprenticeship Pipeline Model
- 01Paid internship or on-set shadow day
- 02Screening at a Dakar event or summit
- 03Mentorship session with industry judges
- 04Equipment stipend or post-production support
Prize amounts, sponsors, deadlines and dates will be announced by the Dakar Foundation. Nothing on this page is a funded commitment.
Related media
The reference film and the context.
YouTube · kevin clark
“welcome to los angeles county Original”
A civic storyboard about Los Angeles County — a welcome to the world coming here ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, the Super Bowl 2027 and the 2028 Olympics — showing the region's scale, diversity, communities, industries and statistical factoids. The abstract above is grounded in that visible framing and should be treated as a polished adaptation rather than a shot-by-shot extraction.
Film Challenge title
The Path to Triple Victory
Victory by Valor heroes at the intersection of service, competitive athletics and Olympic gold — the spotlight of Black American Olympians who served.
The spotlight →Related media · external
Governor Newsom expands apprenticeships and workforce training for more than 60,000 Californians ↗Office of Governor Gavin Newsom · April 9, 2026
Related media — shared by Kevin Clark for context on California's apprenticeship investment. Not a partnership or endorsement.
FEB
A named edition of the challenge
Black History Month edition
A Black History Month (February) edition of LA World Cinema Games, with the Victory by Valor heroes and “The Path to Triple Victory” as its spotlight. Dates, judges and prizes for this edition are to be announced by the Dakar Foundation.
Sample one-sheet language
LA World Cinema Games — Welcome to Los Angeles County — is a short-form cinematic competition inviting youth, apprentices, students, and emerging creators to tell authentic stories about the people, places, and possibilities that define Los Angeles County. Inspired by a civic welcome-film concept, the challenge transforms a promotional visual language into a community storytelling platform. Participants will produce original 2–5 minute films exploring identity, geography, culture, labor, resilience, and hope across the County's many neighborhoods and institutions. The initiative is designed to build creative workforce skills in directing, cinematography, editing, sound, producing, and civic storytelling while generating powerful screen-ready content for public exhibition, educational engagement, and community activation.
Tagline options
- 01“Not just where we live. It's how we rise.”
- 02“Welcome to Los Angeles County, told by the people who make it move.”
- 03“One county. Many stories. One challenge.”
- 04“See LA County through new eyes.”
Call for entries
Dakar Foundation invites filmmakers, apprentices, students, and community storytellers to enter LA World Cinema Games: the Welcome to Los Angeles County film challenge. Create a 2–5 minute short film that captures the real energy, beauty, struggle, and promise of Los Angeles County. Show us the neighborhoods, workers, students, artists, public spaces, and everyday visionaries who define this region. Documentary, narrative, experimental, and hybrid — including work made with generative AI tools.
Submission window, entry form and deadline to be announced. Until then, reach the Foundation through the contact page.