Entries for Open City Documentary Festival 2027 are now open.

The 17th edition of Open City Documentary Festival takes place in venues across London in April 2027 and will present a diverse programme of international contemporary and retrospective non-fiction film, audio and cross media, as well as filmmaker Q&As, panels, talks and workshops.

Open City Documentary Festival seeks to nurture experimentation within the expanded field of non-fiction cinema, from artists’ moving image to documentary, the essay film, audio and cross-media works. In conceiving the festival as a discursive space, we intend to provoke dialogue, creation and research through the collective participation in screenings and events.

Some of the artists and filmmakers screened at the festival in recent years include Graeme Arnfield, Robert Beavers, Betzy Bromberg, Luke Fowler, Kazuo Hara, Sky Hopinka, Onyeka Igwe, Naomi Kawase, Zhao Liang, Rosine Mbakam, Pablo Alvárez Mesa, Miko Revereza, Jessica Sarah Rinland, Renate Sami, Haneda Sumiko, Alia Syed, Anya Tsyrlina, Ana Vaz and Morgan Quaintance. To gain a sense of our programming, please take a look through the 2026 programme.

All selected filmmakers receive screening fees. Open City’s standard screening fees for films and audio are £275 (inc VAT) for works over 60 minutes, £140 (inc. VAT) for works over 40 minutes and £70 (Inc.VAT) for works under 40 minutes. Open City Documentary Festival offers a standard screening fee of £100 (in. VAT) for cross-platform projects. Please see full rules and terms on the Film Freeway Call for Entries page.

The early deadline for entries is 25 September 2026 and the final deadline is  27 November 2026.

Open City Documentary Festival is a Section B BAFTA Qualifying Festival for the British Short Film award and a BIFA Qualifying Festival for Best British Short.