The third International Documentary Film Festival Artdocfest/Riga took place in Riga, Latvia from 2 to 9 March 2023. There were two programmes of competition at the festival – Baltic focus and Artdocfest Open.

The Artdocfest programmes have been shown in Riga already since 2014, as for 5 years they were organised in collaboration with RIGA IFF as a part of the festival’s documentary section. The founder of the IDFF Artdocfest/Riga is a non-governmental association “Artdoc Fest & Media”. The partners of the festival are national and international institutions and foundations and media from around the world.

Within the framework of the festival a symposium – a creative meeting of documentary filmmakers and theoreticians was held with the aim to create a temporary, inspirational space of thought - transferring the knowledge, highlighting the tendencies and discussing the developments and significant trends in documentary. Every year a prominent guest – important in the World of Documentary is invited to take part in symposium.

Awards & Prizes

Artdocfest Competition:
Grand Prize (Money prize)
Best Director (Money prize)
Special Jury (Money Prize)
Special mention

Baltic Focus:
Main Prize HERZ (Money Prize)
Best Director HERZ
Special Mention

Rules & Terms

IDFF ARTDOCFEST/RIGA

‘Artdocfest Open’ – films from around the world. Selection preference is given to films whose makers are from the Eastern Europe, or that have a subject matter dealing with processes in countries of the former Eastern Bloc. Films that have been publicly screened in Latvia are not eligible for the ‘Artdocfest Open’ competition. Public screening denotes any and all showings of a film to a general public audience.

‘Baltic Focus’ – for this competition section, the Festival considers films produced in the countries of the Baltic Sea Region (Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden) or co-produced with any of these countries

Films considered for selection must have completed production no earlier than September 2022.

The completed form and a link to the film must be available to the Festival’s Board by January 15, 2023.

If one submitter is submitting several films, an online form must be filled out separately for each film.

The submitter should provide a link to an online screener. There must be only one film placed on the link specified in the application form. Films submitted otherwise will not be considered. If a link to Vimeo or YouTube has been provided, the option to download it must be available. If the specified link to the website does not work, or the submission application contains false/erroneous information, the Festival’s Board reserves the right to reject the submission.

Films may be submitted to the Festival by production companies, independent producers, sales agents and distributors, or other copyright holders.

Details - in regulations IDFF ARTDOCFEST / RIGA https://artdocfest.com/en/content/reglament-artdocfest-riga/

NB! Please read the technical requirements for submitting copies of films to be considered for programme inclusion.