The Folkestone Documentary Festival will take place between 22 October - 25 October 2026. By submitting your film (Film) to the Folkestone Documentary Festival, you agree to the following:
1. All the information provided either through the online entry form or through email correspondence with The Folkestone Documentary Festival is true and accurate. Please also ensure that if your email changes, this is updated on FilmFreeway and/or in correspondence with the Folkestone Documentary Festival.
2. You either own the rights to, or have received permission to use footage, sound, music, images, and all other contributions that are part of the screen work to the extent necessary to submit the Film to the Festival and, if accepted, screen the Film at the Folkestone Documentary Festival.
3. The Film must have been completed in the past 18 months of the festival, with a completion date after the 1st of April 2025.
4. To be eligible for consideration, all submissions must meet the following requirements:
4.1 Works accepted are – feature documentaries (over 70 minutes), which must be the director's 1st or 2nd film and short documentaries and artist films up to thirty minutes in length.
4.2 All non-English language films and screen works must be subtitled in English. If selected, the screening version must also be subtitled.
5. Fees:
5.1 All entrants must pay a flat fee per film entered. The fee varies based on the category entered and whether it is submitted in the early bird period or not. Please note that the entry fee is not refundable.
5.2 Selection decisions are final. FDF does not provide feedback on films and is not obligated to enter into any discussion about selection decisions.
6. Official Selection
In the event of your screen work being officially selected, you will be notified by invitation by July 23rd 2026. If selected, you will be requested to provide all necessary press and marketing materials as a matter of urgency (stills, press kit, etc.).
6.2 You grant the Folkestone Documentary Festival a royalty-free, non-exclusive UK license to use film excerpts, film stills, press kits and other promotional materials from the Film for publicity and promotional purposes about the festival, including on its website.
7. Unselected Projects:
7.1 The Folkestone Documentary Film Festival does not offer refunds to films that aren’t selected for the festival.
8. Other Important details:
8.1 Programming decisions are made at the discretion of the co-directors and take into consideration numerous elements and factors for the curation of the overall film festival program.
