The GOLDEN TREE International Documentary Film Festival (GTIDFF), founded in 2016, takes place every year in Europe. The Festival’s aim is to focus the world’s attention on documentaries, encourage the exhibition of quality films worldwide , deeply explore different cultures and countries, and promote mutual exchanges and learning through the art of cinematography.

The theme of the 8th GOLDEN TREE International Documentary Film Festival is “Roots of Culture: Inheritance and Innovation”, focusing on habitat and other areas of human existence, including social changes, environment and other content. The Golden Tree Festival has units such as film competition, opening ceremony and documentary night, film screening, theme forum, round table conference, closing and award ceremony.

1 Film Competition
1.1 Registration will start on June 1,2023 and close on December 31, 2023.
1.2 Evaluation process is divided into three stages: preliminary evaluation, pre-selection and final jury.
1.3 The jury group is composed of 44 experts, scholars and professionals from all over the world, divided into a preliminary jury (30), a pre-selection jury (7) and a final jury (7).
1.4 Awards announcement: The final winning films will be announced at the closing and awards ceremony in April, 2024 in Paris.
1.5 Other information refers to "Details of Film Competition Unit".

2 Opening Ceremony and Documentary Night
The opening ceremony of the 8th Golden Tree Festival will be held in April, 2024 in Paris, France, and an exchange reception will follow the ceremony.

3 Film screening
During the Golden Tree Festival, shortlisted films will be selected for screening, and the creative teams will be invited to the scene to share the story behind the creation of the documentary with the audience face to face. At the same time, the films would also be shown in schools, communities, small theaters and other places for free. Online screening would be held in the column of Golden Tree Festival on famous online video platforms.

4 Forum
During the Golden Tree Festival, Four documentary-themed international forums will be held in Paris, France.

5 Round table meeting
During the Golden Tree Festival, a number of thematic round tables will be arranged, covering multiple sub-topics such as technical cooperation, business cooperation, investment, and procurement.

6 Closing and Award Ceremony
The 8th Golden Tree Festival has 7 awards including the Golden Tree Award, the Best Long Documentary Award, the Best Medium-length Documentary Award, the Best Short Documentary Award, the Best Director Award, the Best Cinematography Award, and the Best Completion of GFP Award. The award and closing ceremony will be held in April 2024 in Paris, France.

GTIDFF encourages the participation of filmmakers with documentaries that are culturally relevant, unique, innovative and meaningful.

There is no registration fee. Proof of registration entitles you to two (2) free passes to the GOLDEN TREE Festival, giving you access to all of the 8th GTIDFF industry activities.

Theme, Time and Location:
2024 Theme: Roots of Culture: Inheritance and Innovation
Festival date : April 2024
Location: Paris, France
Accepting submission between : June 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023.

Film length definition:
Documentary Feature: Longer than 60 minutes;
Documentary Medium-Length: 20-60 minutes (including 60 minutes);
Documentary Short: 20 minutes or less (including 20 minutes);

Awards and Prize
1 Golden Tree, Prize 5,000 Euro
2 Best Feature Documentary, Prize 5,000 Euro
3 Best Medium-length Documentary, Prize 2,000 Euro
4 Best Short Documentary, Prize 2,000 Euro
5 Best Director, Prize 1,500 Euro
6 Best Cinematography, Prize 1,500 Euro
7 Best Completion of GFP, Prize 1,000 Euro

Registration fee: Free
Film completion : After January 1st, 2021

The registered film must be a completely finished documentary film. All films shall not contain any elements that are hostile to other countries, cause religious or ethnic conflicts etc., and shall not cover pornography, violence and racial discrimination.

Subtitles: All registered films must come with English subtitles.
Written materials: the film introduction and director introduction should be provided in English.
Photo information:1 HD poster, 3-5 Stage Photos (within 10MB).
Video data: High-definition full film and trailers (English subtitles) format is MP4, compressed within 10G, the picture can be watermarked, but can not block the picture.
Applicants shall ensure the authenticity, completeness, and accuracy of the registration information, and bear the legal liability arising from false information. Application materials will not be returned and will be retained by the organizing committee for archival purposes.
The applicant (individual or institution) who registered the film must have full copyright or licensing rights of the film. The applicant also authorizes the organizing committee of the GOLDEN TREE International Documentary Film Festival to download the film for the purpose of award selection. Moreover, the applicant shall guarantee that the film is not involved in any kind of copyright dispute, In case of any disputes regarding the film’s copyright, the applicant will bear full responsibility. 
Applicants that register for the 8th GTIDFF 2024 agree to accept the aforementioned terms and rules as well as allow us to use your email address for contact purposes.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Lorena Montenegro

    They told me I got an award for Best Short Documentary this year on April, asked my information, I sent an invoice and they never paid me the money prize. It's been months and they never answered my emails about it.

    September 2023
  • Raja Shabir Mohammad Khan

    This festival is a BIG SCAM.
    Although I couldn't attend the Golden Tree Film Festival in person, I was thrilled to learn that I had won not one, but two prestigious awards! I was asked to send an invoice so that they could send me the prize money, which I did. However, I never received the money, and they stopped responding to my emails.

    April 2023
  • Thank you so much for inviting my documentary film 'Doors to Fantasy' to this wonderful festival. The film was screened on the opening day of the festival. It was a great honour and privilege to have been part of the festival in Paris. I wish the festival all the best for the future.

    April 2023
  • Marcos Altuve

    Thank you for selecting our short film "The eyes of the land"

    January 2022
  • Paul Simma

    This is an amazing documentary film festival that works as a bridge between the Chinese and European documentary markets.

    January 2022