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.

• 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.

• [NEW] Field of Vision has relaunched their *free* mentorship & consultation service! Filmmakers from around the world can sign up for consultation about Professional Development, Technical Assistance, Pitch Training, Story Development, Distribution Strategy, and more. Sign up today!

• Winter Filmmaking Workshops at DCTV: Ready to enhance your filmmaking skills? Explore discounted workshop packages at NYC's DCTV! See the list of classes and sign up here.

Upcoming Funding Deadlines

• January 5: Check out EURODOC’s workshop designed for Italian producers and hosted in Biella, Italy. In connection with the EURODOC25 annual program, a group of up to 12 participants will attend an intensive 5-day workshop focusing on the development of their documentary project. Learn more and apply.

• January 5: Doha Film Institute's new grants cycle wants to fund your film/TV/web series. Click here to learn more about the submission requirements.

• January 6 (Member Deadline): The Film Independent’s Documentary Story Lab helps directors hone their story as they dive into the editing phase of their feature documentary. For one week, fellows attend multiple workshops and sessions with industry experts, get one-on-one support from an experienced Creative Advisor and Editing Advisor, and pitch their project to industry executives. Non-members need to apply by December 16, and members have until January 6.

• January 12: The PBS Creative Voices Initiative supports mid-career filmmakers and content creators who have experienced barriers to entering the media industry. Perks include paid employment opportunities (with benefits!) for up to one year with third-party productions working on PBS shows, mentorship, and more. Learn more 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.

• January 15: Cucalorus Film Foundation and Working Films seek filmmakers with social justice documentary projects that center Black storytelling. Artists will receive feedback on their work-in-progress and explore audience engagement strategies through workshops, consultations, and community screenings in Wilmington, NC this April 22-29, 2025. Apply here.

• January 15: Cucalorus Film Foundation also seeks applications for The IMMERSION Lab, a virtual reality creation residency. Through this residency, artists will be supported to develop and execute a 360 video project, collaborate with other residents on production, live well in community, and learn about Wilmington’s racial history and how it shapes the present. The residency takes place from May 18-30, 2025, in Wilmington, NC. Learn more here.

• January 17: Calling New England-based directors and producers seeking production and post-production funds for feature-length (40+ min) nonfiction film and video projects! LEF Foundation is awarding a maximum of (8) grants of $15,000 each to projects in the Production phase, and a maximum of (6) grants of $25,000 each to projects in the Post-production phase. Apply now.

• January 17: The DOK.forum Marketplace is looking for strong documentary film projects in all stages of development. Filmmakers can apply for a wide range of pitch events and award competitions with various prizes, partnerships, and perks. Learn more here.

• January 21: The Diane Weyermann Fellowship program empowers advanced-career creative documentary directors and producers by building a robust community of support to tell significant stories that reach global audiences. Up to three original, feature-length documentaries in mid to late production from global filmmaking teams will be selected to participate in a 18 month collaborative Fellowship program that includes $100,000 in total grant support ($50,000/ year), two creative retreats in Maine coinciding with the 2025 and 2026 Camden International Film Festivals, and ongoing mentorship. Apply here.

• February 4: Chicken & Egg Film’s 2025 Research & Development Grant, generously supported by Netflix, supports women and gender-expansive nonfiction filmmakers from around the world who have directed at least two feature-length documentaries and are in the research & development stage of their next feature-length film. A total of $450,000 USD will be awarded in grants amounts of $10,000 USD grants for Research and $20,000 USD grants for Development. More info here.

• March 1 - March 31: Long Story Short, Kickstarter’s annual celebration of bold and brilliant short films and the visionary people who make them, is calling all boundary-pushing filmmakers to launch short film campaigns in March 2024. If you’re a filmmaker ready to take your short to the big screen, this is your chance. Learn more and apply here!

• March 24: The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley has exciting new grants for nonfiction projects exploring the many dimensions of love. Supported by the John Templeton Foundation, this initiative will fund 24 journalists and media producers with grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. They welcome proposals for articles, videos, podcasts, social media campaigns, and other forms of media that examine love from diverse angles. Click here for more information.

Upcoming Festival Submission Deadlines:

• 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.

• January 27: DocsBarcelona Industry has opened its call to submit nonfiction projects for their festival running May 12-16 May 2025. The festival offers filmmakers up to €6,500 in cash prizes. Apply 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 10: Submissions for DOCLANDS 2025 are now open. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this year’s annual documentary film festival, DOCLANDS, presented by CAFILM. Submit 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 27: The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, Africa’s foremost platform for documentary excellence, invites you to submit your feature-length, mid-length, and short documentary films for consideration in our 27th edition, scheduled for June 19-29, 2025, in Cape Town, Johannesburg. More details here.

• February 28: Submissions for Rooftop Film’s 2025 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!

• March 14: DC/DOX is a major new international film festival in the US capital dedicated to championing documentary film as a leading art form. The festival's third edition is scheduled for June 12-15, 2025 and will showcase 100 exceptional documentaries from around the world, plus provide abundant networking opportunities, panels, master classes, and workshops. Enter here.

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

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