Open City Documentary Festival

7 – 13 September 2022
in London

Call for entries

Early Bird Deadline Fri 13 January 2023, Regular Deadline Fri 14 April 2023, Late Deadline Fri 05 May 2023, Location Open City Documentary Festival 2022 takes place from Sept 6th - Sept 12th 2023,

The 13th edition of Open City Documentary Festival takes place in venues across London between 6th – 12th September 2023 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 Alexandra Cuesta, Robert Beavers, Betzy Bromberg, Luke Fowler, Kazuo Hara, Laura Huertas Millán, Onyeka Igwe, Naomi Kawase, Zhao Liang, Simon Liu, Rosine Mbakam, Pablo Alvárez Mesa, Miko Revereza, Jessica Sarah Rinland, Renate Sami, Haneda Sumiko, Alia Syed, Anya Tsyrlina, Ana Vaz and Morgan Quaintance. In order to get a better sense of our programming, please check our 2022 programme and catalogue.

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 submissions page.

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.