Entries for Open City Documentary Festival 2025 are now open

The 15th edition of Open City Documentary Festival takes place in venues across London between 6–11 May 2025 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 2024 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 deadline for entries is 13 December 2024.

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.