OPPORTUNITIES

Rolling Deadlines:

• NIO Ventures, an impact consulting firm headquartered in Valencia, Spain, aims to transform mental health through awareness, education, and healing by setting an objective to help produce 50 mental health documentaries in the next 10 years. If you're working on a doc project about mental health, send an email to impact@nioventures.com with your name, location, log line, description, and deck (if available).

• Calling all Indigenous artists! Toronto Art Council’s Indigenous Arts Projects program offers annual multi-disciplinary project grants to support your creative journey. Explore the diverse range of art practices and apply in one of four grant categories. Submissions are rolling—learn more here.

• The Black Artists Grant (BAG) is a £500 no-strings financial support to help UK-based Black creatives. Whether you’re in need of new equipment or to fund your latest project, learn more and apply here.
  

• Submit your documentary for Educational Distribution with GOOD DOCS! If your latest doc is based on education and engaging with students about rarely heard stories then this is where your next application should be. Find out more here.

• The Pulitzer Center provides grants to cover the hard costs of reporting projects. Grants are open to all journalists: writers, photographers, radio producers, and filmmakers; staff journalists as well as freelancers. Deadline is rolling, find out more here.

• [NEW] The Sustainability Prize, launched by Creo and Sony, offers $5,000 to filmmakers passionate about communicating key themes linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, along with Sony digital imaging equipment and promotion across Sony’s channels. The winners will also get the chance to be honored at a showcase hosted by the United Nations Foundation and Sony Pictures. Apply here.

• Fall Filmmaking Workshops at DCTV: Ready to enhance your filmmaking skills? Explore discounted workshop packages at NYC's DCTV! The Adobe Premiere Package includes both Editing Fundamentals and Intermediate Premiere. With the Class Fundamentals Package, you can choose any two courses—Camera, Audio, or Lighting—or opt for all three. Sign up here.

Upcoming Funding Deadlines

• November 1: The Sandbox Films Science Pitch Prize, which includes a $25,000 cash award for the winning project, will be presented to a science documentary project presented at the CPH:FORUM that demonstrates exceptional innovation in the genre, artistic merit, and a commitment to inclusivity. The winning pitch will receive support from Sandbox Films to bring your project to life. Apply here!

• November 1: The William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar is Black Star Fest's seminar for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms. Submit your proposal for a chance to present your topic at Stanford University, March 7-9, 2025.

• November 1: Mark your calendars: 2025 Big Sky Pitch is open for submissions! Only documentary feature length works-in-progress are eligible to apply. Documentaries may be in any phase of development, production, or post production, but must be in need of funding. Apply now.

• November 3: Documentarians in Miami! Miami Film Festival just launched The Louies — a $100K fund for documentaries about South Florida, made by Miamians. The grant will be shared between six recipients producing short to full-length documentaries about the history and culture of South Florida. Get funded!

• November 4: California filmmakers! California Humanities wants to support your story about communities, regions, and individuals whose voices and perspectives have traditionally been excluded from the broader California narrative. Eligible applicants with early stage documentaries may apply for funding of up to $15,000.

• [EXTENDED] November 6: Filmmakers in Asia! Apply for VC's SSP: Asia program! During this year-long program, 16 Asian (born and based) filmmakers are paired with 16 inspiring nonprofit organizations and supported with robust resources, connections, and community to produce solutions-focused short documentary films that reach global audiences.

• November 13: The 2025 Catapult Research Grant seeks to address filmmaker sustainability and diversity in the field, with a focus on artists from marginalized communities. In 2025, Catapult will support a cohort of three (3) mid-career filmmakers who share a desire to deepen their craft and an ongoing commitment to the art of nonfiction storytelling. Learn more here.

• November 15: Multitude Films and Brown Girls Doc Mafia are seeking proposals for REPARATIVE FUTURES, a series of documentary shorts offering transformative visions for reparations. Each project will work with Multitude Films on a $20K–$35K production budget, schedule a 4-week edit & receive a $7K director’s fee. Learn more about the criteria here.

• [EXTENDED] November 15: The Frameline Completion Fund provides grants up to $5,000 for the completion of films that represent and reflect LGBTQ+ life in all its complexity and richness. Apply here.

• November 20: With support from the California Arts Council, Women in Media is introducing the Activate Impact Initiative, a one-year, grant-funded program available to emerging filmmakers (in any department in pre-production, physical production, or post-production) seeking Women In Media membership and complimentary access to many WiM events. There is no fee to apply!

• December 1: As the the last act of the Act of Worship impact campaign, the filmmakers are launching AN ACT OF WORSHIP: The Next Generation. Grants of $1500, along with mentorship from their team, will go to three filmmakers between the ages of 18-25, who self-identify as Muslim and reside in the United States, to make a 2-3 minute short documentary that captures the question: What does it mean for you to be a Muslim in America right now?

• December 9: Directing your first feature documentary? Applications for the 2025 BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship are now open! In addition to a 9-month cohort, traveling, mentorship, insight into the industry, and strengthening your films together, all fellows will also receive $10,000 in unrestricted funding. Apply now!

• December 15: UpTilt Film Fest is awarding TWO $2,000 scholarships to women and/or gender-nonconforming filmmakers in 2025. One scholarship will be awarded to a North Carolina Resident and the other scholarship is open to anyone! Apply here.

• December 17: The Chimaera Project’s TO.GET.HER Finishing Fund program provides funds to U.S.-based directors who identify as women and non-binary. Up to $6,000 will be awarded to selected feature films (over 40 min) and up to $2,500 will be awarded to selected short films (max 40 min). Apply here!

• January 13: Year-long fellowship opportunity! Women in Film's flagship program welcomes Fellows from all areas of the entertainment industry for a year of mentoring, master classes, network building, and one-on-one career strategy sessions. Details here.

Upcoming Festival Submission Deadlines:

• November 4: The Atlanta Film Festival is the area’s preeminent celebration of cinema. Our 11-day festival presents over 120 films from all over the world, representing 110+ countries. Enter here.

• November 14 (shorts) / December 12 (features): The 68th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 17–27, 2025) is now accepting submissions! SFFILM is an essential stop on the circuit for emerging storytellers and established filmmakers alike. Submit here.

• November 14: DocsBarcelona is an international festival specializing in the documentary genre. Enter your film!

• November 15: Central and Eastern European filmmakers! The East Doc Platform (based in Prague, Czech Republic) is the largest meeting place for the international documentary industry in Central and Eastern Europe. Enter your completed projects, or your works-in-progress here.

• December 9: The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is now accepting film and media submissions for the 43rd rendition of the festival! CAAMFest is one of the nation’s leading showcases for Asian and Asian American talent in film, music, food, and ideas. Enter your doc here.

• December 12: The Sony Future Filmmakers Awards is a major program providing career-changing opportunities for filmmakers. The shortlisted filmmakers are flown to the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, to attend an awards ceremony and an industry immersion program with workshops led by Sony Pictures executives, panel discussions, tours, screenings, and Q&As. Enter your short film (for free)!

• December 15: The 9th annual UPTILT Film Fest (North Carolina's ONLY women-centered and gender non-conforming film festival) is happening March 21-23, 2025! The festival showcases short films from all over the world, plus they refund submission fees and pay a small screening fee for all accepted films. Submit your short doc today.

• December 15: Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival is now open for entries! Submit your short or feature-length doc that showcases the Latino experience here.

• December 16: DOK.fest München, an International Documentary Film Festival held in Munich, Germany has two calls for entries! Submit your feature-length doc for the 40th anniversary of DOK.fest, or your short doc that’s for and about youth for their Film Education Programme.

• January 2: Grounded in the commitment to honor Island Cultures and our World Oceans, the Key Biscayne Film Festival screens captivating short films and feature-length films. An essential aspect of the Key Biscayne Film Festival is its commitment to environmental stewardship. Have a short or feature-length doc that fits the script? Submit here.

• January 3: The 49th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) will take place March 27 - April 5, 2025 in person at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland, OH. CIFF49 will consist of hundreds of films, post-film conversations and Q&As with filmmakers, balloting, and over $135,000 in cash awards. Enter your doc here!

• January 9: The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is ranked as one of the top festivals in North America, and is an Academy Award-qualifying festival for short films, presenting more than 260 features, documentaries, and short films to an audience of roughly 90,000 each year. Submit your doc to SIFF!

• January 9: Film submissions for the 32nd annual Hot Docs Festival, April 24–May 4, 2025, are officially open! Hot Docs accepts short films, mid-lengths, features, and episodic series, so apply today.

• January 10: Beirut International Women Film Festival (BWFF) is organized by Beirut Film Society and features films about women and/or executed by women highlighting the role of women as leaders in their societies. Do you have a doc that fits the script? Submit here.

• January 15 (features) / February 5 (shorts): Tribeca 2025 is happening June 4-15 in NYC and they want to hear YOUR voice! The feature-length deadline is January 15; the short film deadline is February 5. Share your story.

• January 26: New Zealand’s Doc Edge Festival is an Academy Awards® qualifying festival for feature and short documentaries made by talented storytellers from around the globe. Submit here.

• February 1: The Palm Springs ShortFest is one of the largest showcases of short-form cinema in North America. The seven-day festival is Academy Award, BAFTA and Goya-qualifying, annually screening hundreds of shorts from all over the world. Enter here.

• February 21: The 46th season of the Telly Awards celebrates the creativity that emerges when Stories Take Shape in bold and innovative ways. This season Telly Awards is proud to present a brand new conversation series, “Throughlines,” and to bring our screening series to even more cities around the US. Submit here.

• February 28: Submissions for Rooftop Film’s 2025 Summer Series are now open! The Summer Series runs annually from May to September, featuring daring new indie films, all screened outdoors, in front of big audiences, all around New York City. Submit here.

• February 28: Sheffield Doc Fest welcomes documentary and nonfiction films of all lengths and from all around the world. Submit here!

✌️ Have an exciting opportunity to share? Send an email or submit here.

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