The NYC Short Documentary Film Festival (NYCSDFF) will be held November 8, 2026, in the center of Manhattan, close to the iconic Times Square, New York City, NY, USA.

Join us for the NYC Short Documentary Film Festival 2026 and become part of a growing tradition!

Congratulations to all the Winners of the 2025 NYC Short Documentary Film Festival!

Best Film - Gimme My Medicine
Best Director - Queen of the Catskills
Best Score - Quad Life (David Jeffers)
Best Script - Cornellskop: Freedom of Fear
Best Cinematography - Sketch of an Artist

Please be sure to review ALL submission guidelines before you do the entry. We have limited time and resources to correct application mistakes. Please try and be as accurate as possible. We will contact you by e-mail if there are any problems.

Documentary film is a genre that is based in truth and told with style. Every second of every day, an infinite multitude of stories are playing out in every nook and cranny of the world - the goal of documentary film is take this sprawling mass of real life and weave it into cinematic art. The purposes of documentary are multifold - to educate, to entertain, to bring attention to important issues or to simply highlight the understated wonders of everyday life.

We select films for our festival exclusively through submissions made via FilmFreeway; it's a democratic process and we take it seriously.

If your submission is selected, you will be notified by e-mail. Accepted filmmakers will be given one free admission pass to the festival.

Awards & Prizes

Awards & Prizes for 2026

Best Documentary Film
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Super Short Documentary Film (under 5 minutes)
Best Student Documentary Film
Best Experimental Documentary Film

Certificates will be awarded.

Rules & Terms

As a condition of entering the NYC Documentary Short Film Fest, hereafter known as NYCSDFF, I/we hereby certify that:

1. I/we am/are the sole creators of the film, script, short stories, poems which I/we have submitted to the NYCSDFF.

2. I/we warrant as sole and exclusive owner(s) of all legal right and title there to have absolute authority to submit the enclosed material to NYCSDFF.

3. I/we understand that the NYCSDFF will not return and is not obligated to return my film or any other materials I/we have submitted to the NYCSDFF.

4. I/we hereby grant the NYCSDFF the nonexclusive right to use my name, photograph, and likeness in connection with any and all publicity and promotional activities regarding the NYCSDFF.

5. For filmmakers: NYCSDFF may transfer the submitted material to a hard drive for screening, if needed, and if the submitted material is selected for screening the submitted material may be used by NYCSDFF for promotional purposes.

6. I/we will indemnify and hold harmless NYCSDFF, its judges, sponsors and partners, individually and collectively, from and against all claims, demands, losses, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses including legal expenses arising out of or in connection with any and all claims, or third party claims based on material submitted to NYCSDFF.

7. I/we shall be solely responsible for taking all necessary steps to establish and protect my/our copyright in the submitted material, and the NYCSDFF shall have no obligation with respect thereto. The NYCSDFF shall have the right to reproduce all or part of said material for use in its publicity and any and all related communication directly associated with NYCSDFF.

8. I/we have read all of the festival rules, regulations and releases, understand them, and have complied with them. I/we understand that the festival rules, regulations and releases may change or be updated, and that it is my responsibility to read, understand and comply with any changes or updates.

9. The NYCSDFF only accept online submissions either a FilmFreeway online video or a private/password protected vimeo/YouTube link. I/we shall provide a file of the film to screen at the NYCSDFF, If the submitted film is selected.
4 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Robert Menefee

    Thank you for selecting my film “Climate Emergency.” It was a wonderful experience at the Producers Club Theater in Midtown Manhattan; the other films were excellent and I was proud to be included.

    November 2023
    Helpful
  • Ingrid Price

    How do you review a film festival in the Time of COVID 19?
    The allure of a Festival is the mingling, the schmoozing, the chance to travel somewhere and enjoy watching films together, the meet-n-greets and Q&As. What does a festival organizer do when none of that is possible?
    Kudos to Dennis, who, on a shoestring budget, flying nearly solo, was one of the first festival organizers to attempt an online festival.
    He pre-recorded a group Q&A with the filmmakers in our block. We got to meet, see, and hear from everyone before we'd even seen their films, which was actually very cool. It made us even more excited to watch their docs. We social-media'd the heck out of the fest, hoping to get an audience as excited as we were to try this new thing.
    On broadcast day, our wifi was acting hinky and slow, so some of the films stuttered and had poor sound sync. It didn't matter; we were glued to the screen. The films were terrific! The Q&As that Dennis pre-recorded played afterward and we enjoyed hearing from the other filmmakers.
    This is the little Festival that could. And it did. Congratulations all around, especially to Dennis.
    Next year? Let's do it old school, and get together in a big crowd again! Wishing everyone the best of health.

    March 2020
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you so much for saying that!! We worked hard on getting the steaming done. We figured it was the least we could do for all the filmmakers who worked so hard on their films and then gave us the ultimate complement by submitting their films to our festival.

    I completely agree, please let us have a conventional festival next year and may we all be healthy and happy!

    Thanks for submitting and hope to meet next year! Dennis

  • Gabriel Garton

    The intimate NYC Short Documentary Film Festival in the heart of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood was a delight to attend as well as showcase my work. The festival's director Dennis was very accommodating and communicated everything clearly, and the entire staff was a joy to work with. I enjoyed the films and am looking forward to attending next year.

    May 2018
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hi Gabriel, Glad we could screen your film! It was a pleasure to have you join us!

  • H James Gilmore

    I could not attend, but my daughter who lives in NYC went in my place and said it was a strong selection of short films. The audience was relatively small, hence the 4 star review. Nevertheless, I was honored to have my short documentary included in their lineup. Communication was good throughout the process.

    April 2018
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Glad she had fun. The films were great and we are working on expanding the festival and audience!