Submissions

“DOC NYC has cemented itself as one of our favorite festivals of the cultural calendar.” – Flavorpill

“DOC NYC has become an essential summit for all kinds of documentary filmmaking.” – Wall Street Journal

Launched in 2010, DOC NYC quickly became America’s largest documentary film festival.  The festival has hosted hundreds of world premieres over the years including “David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived”, “South to Black Power”, “June”, “Making a Murderer,” “Amazing Grace,” “Far From the Tree,” “Dean Martin: King of Cool,” and “Adrienne.” Click here to see 2023 Festival Award Winners.

PREMIERE STATUS REQUIREMENTS: 
DOC NYC gives strong programming priority to World or U.S. premieres for feature films, but the minimum status to participate in the festival for both features and shorts is a New York City (5 Boroughs) premiere. The only exceptions to the NYC premiere policy are for films playing in the Short List or Winner’s Circle sections- these do not require any type of premiere status.

Episodics are welcome and programmed within existing categories.

COMPETITION SECTIONS:

DOC NYC has six competition sections:

U.S. Competition – A spectrum of high quality documentaries produced in the U.S. 

International Competition – A spectrum of high quality documentaries produced outside the U.S. 

Kaleidoscope Competition – Documentaries that tend toward the poetic and essayistic.   

Metropolis – Established in the festival’s first year (2010), this section focuses on stories and personalities rooted in New York City.

Shorts – Selections of nonfiction shorts, organized thematically. 

DOC NYC U (New York City student films only) – Short documentaries from students across NYC. The work of these filmmakers reflects the unique experiences of their generation.

Note: The DOC NYC Short Film Jury Prize Winner qualifies in the Documentary Short Subject category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. Additionally, all United Kingdom short films that are programmed in this category will be qualified for BAFTA’s British Short Film category. 

Subject Matter is back at DOC NYC for the second year to award a $15,000 grant to one social issue documentary in our program, along with a corresponding grant to a nonprofit addressing the issues featured in the film. To qualify, the documentary must be feature-length and address a social issue currently impacting the United States. The Subject Matter film grant can be used to support the film’s outreach, impact, and distribution efforts. 

NON-COMPETITION SECTIONS:

Special Events – High-profile events and guests. Past titles include the World premieres of “Kevin Garnett: Anything is Possible” (featuring the NBA star in person), the new season of IFC TV’s “Documentary Now!” (with Seth Meyers, John Mulaney, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Richard Kind in person), “City of Joy” (with Eve Ensler and Thandiwe Newton in person), the Bruce Springsteen concert doc “Darkness on the Edge of Town” (with Max Weinberg and Thom Zimny in person), “Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?” (with Noam Chomsky and Michel Gondry in person), Amy Berg’s “An Open Secret;” and U.S. premieres of “Finding Vivian Maier,” “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band” (with Robbie Robertson in person), “Sing Me The Songs That Say I Love You” (with Rufus Wainwright in person), and “Charlotte Rampling: The Look” (with Charlotte Rampling in person).

In addition, DOC NYC annually presents several thematic strands, which can change from year to year. Among these have been Sonic Cinema on music films; Game Face Cinema covering the sports world; Fight the Power on activist stories; Photography & Film on stories of image making; and Portraits that encompass biographical work.

SHORT LISTS AND WINNER’S CIRCLE

DOC NYC has three sections meant to showcase films previously released within the year that are leading contenders for the Oscars and other awards. For these sections, it does not matter if the film has already screened in New York City or is currently in release. 

Submissions for these three sections will open up separately in Spring 2024.  To be eligible for these sections, films must have fulfilled Oscar-qualification requirements by the 2024 Academy deadline.  

Short List: Features – This section, launched in 2011, curates 15 features and has been a leading predictor of future Oscar nominees and winners. 

Short List: Shorts – This section, first launched in 2018, curates 15 shorts and has quickly established a strong track record for anticipating future Oscar nominees. 

Winner’s Circle – This section, introduced in 2019, highlights films that have won major festival awards but might fly below the radar of American audiences. Past films shown in Winner’s Circle include  “A House Made of Splinters”, “Writing with Fire,” “The Mole Agent,” “Bad Axe”, “Beyond Utopia”, “Apolonia, Apolonia”, “In the Rearview”, “Midnight Family,” and “Advocate” that all went on to make the Oscars’ Short List for Documentary Feature.

Submissions for these three sections will open up separately in Spring 2024. To be eligible for these sections, films must have fulfilled Oscar-qualification requirements by the 2024 Academy deadline. For more information about DOC NYC’s Short List and Winner’s Circle program and how to submit your feature for consideration, please visit: filmfreeway.com/DOCNYCShortListsandWinnersCircle. 

ACCESSIBILITY AT THE FESTIVAL

DOC NYC is committed to working with filmmakers to continually improve accessibility for all audiences.

For online exhibition, we strongly encourage all filmmakers to provide their films with closed captioning via VTT file so all home audience members have the option of watching with captions.

For theatrical play, we strongly encourage all filmmakers to submit their films with closed captioning and descriptive audio. We also welcome open caption versions.