Founded in 2002, Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD) Yogyakarta is the first documentary film festival in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Organized by Forum Film Dokumenter, the festival has grown into one of the region’s most important platforms dedicated to documentary cinema.

Each year, FFD presents a diverse program of documentary films from Indonesia and around the world. Through film screenings, discussions, exhibitions, and workshops, the festival creates a space where filmmakers and audiences gather to engage with documentary as both an artistic practice and a form of public knowledge.

The festival attracts filmmakers, programmers, researchers, and documentary enthusiasts from across Indonesia and the international documentary community. Past guests of the festival include Peter Wintonick, Mark Achbar, Curtis Levy, Anand Patwardhan, Leonard Retel Helmrich, Tan Pin Pin, Petr Lom, Enrique Sánchez Lansch, David Bradbury, Alain Compost, Joshua Oppenheimer, Fujioka Asako, Wakai Makiko, Pimpaka Towira, Park Hye-Mi, Christine Hill, Shuhei Hatano, Arya Rothe, Cristina Hanes, Alyx Ayn Arumpac, Ondřej Kamenický, Krishna Sen, and many others.

FFD welcomes documentary films of all forms and approaches, including observational, essayistic, hybrid, experimental, and expanded documentary practices.

Frequently Asked Questions:
https://ffd.or.id/download/FFD%202026%20Film%20Submission-FAQ.pdf

Rules & Regulations:
https://ffd.or.id/download/FFD%202026%20Film%20Submission-Rules%20and%20Regulation.pdf

Awards & Prizes

International Feature–Length Competition
The International Feature-Length Competition Award is presented to a feature-length documentary produced outside Indonesia that demonstrates outstanding artistic vision and a compelling engagement with its subject matter. The award recognizes excellence in international documentary filmmaking and honors works that expand the ways we see and understand the world through nonfiction cinema.

Indonesia Feature–Length Competition
The Indonesia Feature-Length Competition stands at the heart of FFD’s mission to support and celebrate documentary filmmaking from and about Indonesia. The award is presented to an outstanding Indonesian documentary that reflects artistic integrity, narrative strength, and a meaningful contribution to contemporary discourse. It recognizes works that resonate both within local contexts and Indonesia’s documentary landscape.

Short Competition
The Short Competition Award is presented to a short documentary that stands out for its creative approach, clarity of vision, and impact within a condensed cinematic form. This award celebrates the power of brevity and the ability of short films to provoke, move, and inspire.

Student Competition
The Student Competition Award is presented to a film that demonstrates strong potential, originality of thought, and a thoughtful engagement with its chosen subject. Beyond recognizing achievement, this award affirms FFD’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of Indonesian documentary voices.

Rules & Terms

FESTIVAL FILM DOKUMENTER 2026 FILM SUBMISSION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Please note the following terms for reference: (a) FFD, Festival, Forum, refers to the festival organizer; (b) Applicant, refers to the individual submitting the film; (c) Film(s), refers to the submitted audiovisual work; (d) Third Party, refers to parties outside of the Applicant and the Festival; (e) Program, refers to the Festival’s activities related to the screening of Films.

1. FFD only accepts Films submitted through the FilmFreeway platform with a completed submission form. The Applicant is fully responsible for providing digital preview access to the Film for selection purposes via FilmFreeway. Applicants may also provide an external screening link through their FilmFreeway Project Page.

2. Films that have had commercial public release in Indonesia or have been widely available on major OTT/VOD platforms prior to the Festival may not be eligible. Films that have only been screened at festivals or limited online festival platforms remain eligible.

3. FFD only accepts Films submitted by the copyright holder, rights holder, or authorized distribution representative. The Applicant must ensure that all necessary permissions have been obtained for the use of copyrighted materials contained within the Film. FFD shall not be held responsible for any copyright infringement claims made by Third Parties. FFD reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the Applicant, any Film with any unauthorized inclusion of copyrighted content or materials.

4. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to clear the Film’s content from any and all actual or potential legal claims and issues, including and without limitation to defamation, privacy rights, publicity rights, trade secrets, breach of trust, confidential relationships, or other legal claims. FFD reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the Applicant, any Film with any unauthorized inclusion of copyrighted content or materials.

5. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to guarantee that the Film, preview materials, publicity materials, and all supporting information provided are accessible. FFD reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the Applicant, any Film that cannot be accessed due to technical issues, caused by the Applicant or any Third Party system.

6. Films containing linguistic content and/or spoken dialogue, including without limitation English, must provide embedded English subtitles. Applicants may submit Films that contain on-screen text as an artistic choice.

7. Upon completion of the selection process, FFD will attempt to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form to notify the Applicant of the Film’s acceptance status. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that the contact information provided is correct. FFD disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any failure to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form.

8. FFD is not obligated to provide comments, feedback, or explanations regarding the selection status of any submitted Film to the Applicant or any Film representatives. Information regarding the Films selection method, views on Films, or other information related to the selection process, considerations, and/or deliberation of the selection related to Films is subject to the Program’s confidentiality policy. FFD is not responsible for, and will not be held accountable nor liable for, any internal comments or feedback regarding submitted Films; any communication by any FFD or Forum representative regarding films or anything related to the Film selection process.

9. Applicants acknowledge that FFD is a film festival held in alternative spaces, therefore Applicants are subject to all guidelines and practices in managing Films selected for the Program, including screening arrangements, screening schedules, screening frequency, and other related matters. If the Applicant refuses to screen the Film in a manner deemed necessary by FFD, FFD reserves the right to revoke the Film’s selection status and Festival invitation given to the Applicant, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the Applicant.

10. By submitting a Film, Applicants agree that the provided information may be saved indefinitely in FFD and Forum database for archival and research purposes. Any other forms of Film management not mentioned in this document will be communicated by FFD and/or Forum to the Applicant.

11. By submitting a Film, Applicants grant FFD permission to use Film’s excerpts, stills, or other related material contained therein for promotional purposes without limitation in time or territory, if the Film qualifies for selection. This also includes distribution to news media (television, radio, podcasts, social media, and other multimedia formats) for noncommercial use.

12. FFD reserves the right to withdraw a Film’s selection status if the Film is found to pose potential risks or damages to the Festival or its affiliates.

13. Applying to participate in FFD 2026 constitutes acceptance of all Terms and Conditions stated in this document. In the event of discrepancies between language versions, only the Indonesian version shall prevail.