**Each project can be submitted to one category only**

**50% discounts on submission fees provided to previously selected MDF Artists (unlimited-use) and University of Colorado Alumni (single-use) upon request to mdf@colorado.edu**

**Full submission fee waivers will only be granted to current University of Colorado students upon request to mdf@colorado.edu from your colorado.edu email account.**

Write a single sentence evoking the ideas of documentary, experimentation, process, and acceptance…

The fourth annual Mimesis Documentary Festival presented August 15-20, 2023 at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, Colorado is an immersive theatrical and virtual experience featuring in-person and at-home screenings, workshops, and conversations with documentary artists, scholars, and producers from across the world.

The Mimesis Documentary Festival is an artist-focused event encompassing short, feature, and expanded nonfiction ranging from traditional, experimental, ethnographic, and regional documentary. We focus on personal, underrepresented, and culturally specific subjects that offer the most profound experiences of art made from life.

Mimesis is a not-for-profit initiative of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media to create and foster a local, regional, and international network of documentary artists and scholars. We are artist-focused, community oriented, and committed to providing a platform for the infinite potential of nonfiction media.

Submission Categories:

Short Documentary
Feature Documentary
Short Regional Documentary
Feature Regional Documentary
Short Ethnographic Documentary
Feature Ethnographic Documentary
Short Experimental Documentary
Feature Experimental Documentary
Short Docufiction
Feature Docufiction
Student and Emerging Documentary Artists
Expanded Documentary Arts
Short Audio Documentary
Long Audio Documentary

Awards & Prizes

Jury Awards:

Best Documentary
Best Short Documentary
Best Emerging Artist
Best in Documentary Arts

Audience Awards:

Best Feature Documentary
Best Short Documentary
Best Emerging Artist
Best in Documentary Arts

Rules & Terms

We strive for transparency in our submission and selection process to bridge the gap between festival and artists as much as possible. We are committed to programming 80% of our festival from submission-based content with the other 20% reserved for the selection of special programming. Each year we also select our Opening Night Artist from our submission pool. While not all submissions can be screened at the festival, everyone who submits a film through FilmFreeway will be given a full access pass to all virtual screenings and events during the festival.

All submissions are considered for the 2023 festival.
We give priority to projects completed after January 1, 2021.
We also favor work that has not been publicly shown in Colorado.
Selected artists must sign a Screening Agreement.

MDF is unable to pay screening or distribution fees for any submissions selected for exhibition.

Open: Monday, January 2nd, 2023
Early Deadline: Sunday, January 15th, 2023
Regular Deadline: Sunday, April 9th, 2023
Late Deadline: Sunday, April 30th, 2023
Notification: Monday, May 8th, 2023
In-person Festival Dates: August 15-20
Virtual Festival Dates: August 15-27

Submission fee waivers will only be granted to current University of Colorado students upon request to mdf@colorado.edu from your colorado.edu email account.

50% discounts on submission fees provided to previously selected MDF Artists and University of Colorado Alumni upon request to mdf@colorado.edu

Entry fees are non-refundable.

All projects must be submitted through an online link only.

Submissions to the Student and Emerging Documentary Artists category will only be eligible for the Best Emerging Artist awards.

All other category submissions are for programming purposes only, not related to awards.

22 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Pamela Falkenberg

    This festival’s curation is very true to its name, asking viewers to think deeply about the process of mimesis and representing the “real” (which is always constructed rather than magically found, where there are no easy answers to fall back on, and no hard borders between documentary and fictional approaches, remembrance, the unreal, and “truth.” The films selected represent a mosaic of approaches, and every film raises interesting issues, and challenges the viewer to reconsider what a documentary can be. This is an impressive accomplishment for a festival that is only in its third year. We were thrilled that our film was accepted for 2022, and now that we have seen the whole program, we are even more proud to have been part of it. We’re not saying that we loved every film equally, but every film asked us to think, and the program as a whole was just awesome.

    August 2022
    Helpful
  • Sarah Kanouse

    Thoughtfully curated festival featuring some of the most interesting experimental nonfiction work being created today. Excellent communication and fantastic treatment of selected filmmakers. I wish I had been able to attend in person but I greatly appreciated the full online pass. It was an honor to be selected this year.

    August 2022
    Helpful
  • Penny McCann

    Honored to have been included in this ground breaking festival.

    August 2022
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  • Sasha Waters

    Stunning array of documentary films that push the boundaries of form and have a real attention to craft. Truly excellent programming!

    August 2022
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  • John Haley

    A fantastic festival rooted in documentary work but with an expansive view of the form with a team that is willing to exhibit works that push our boundaries and understanding of what constitutes a documentary film.

    August 2022
    Helpful