The Oregon Documentary Film Festival is a theatrical screening event on the Film Festival Circuit that screens international independent documentary films, series and experimental films. This event was founded by author and retired filmmaker Mikel Fair who worked on location in the Film and Television industry from 1999-2015. Multiple short films are screened in a "back to back" format in HD 1080p. Are you inspired by interesting people, historical events, political awareness, behind-the-scenes insights and thought provoking events? Do you enjoy watching films that tell a story? Are you a documentary enthusiast, docuseries binge watcher or story teller? If so, you'll meet a great community of documentary film supporters at our next event in Portland.

Looking for a FilmFreeway Waiver Code Discounts or Promo Code Discounts?
https://filmfestivalcircuit.com/blog/FilmFreeway-promo-codes

16 Award Categories For Documentary Submissions

1) Best Cinematography Award
2) Best Director Award
3) Best Editing Award
4) Best Experimental Film Award
5) Best Experimental Micro Film Award
6) Best International Director Award
7) Best International Film Award
8) Best International Micro Film Award
9) Best Micro Film Award
10) Best Oregon Film Award
11) Best Oregon Micro Film Award
12) Best Original Music Award
13) Best Picture Award
14) Best Series Episode
15) Best Series Micro Episode
16) Most Inspirational Film Award

All films are eligible, regardless if they have distribution or not. All films are eligible even if they have been accepted to other film festivals. All films and videos are eligible, regardless of when or where they were produced. Even if your film or documentary series is publicly available on YouTube or Vimeo, it is still eligible for submission.

The submission fee does not include an event ticket fee if selected. Submission fees and event ticket fees are separate. There are no filmmaker passes.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Ivana Horvat

    I am not the kind of person who writes negative reviews but there were just too many red flags about this festival not to. I think this festival may be a money making scheme. Other than charging filmmakers to come to their own screenings, and to create an necessary DCP for the screening (as far as I know, The Clinton Theater has never required a DCP in the past), the "networking event" was non-existent and picking up an envelope award certificate from the floor of a stage felt entirely illegitimate. Oh, and the only people in the audience were the other filmmakers who had work screening at the festival. I would caution folks from applying and wasting their time and money!

    April 2025
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    For nearly 2 years we have required the DCP format for this screening. When you submitted, you checked the box that acknowledges this policy. BEFORE SUBMITTING. Verbatim, this is the text. "We will screen our program exclusively in the DCP (Digital Cinema Package) format. If selected, the cost of converting video files to DCP is the responsibility of the filmmaker, not the Oregon Documentary Film Festival. This is very important. Please acknowledge that you understand these conditions before submitting."

  • On the positive side: I really appreciate the communication with Mikel and his team. They created an excellent and (for me) an unexpected podcast review of my submission that was professionally done and fun to listen to and share. I also appreciate the festival's valuing of my music video and choosing it as the winner in this category. That is an honor. Thank you!

    On the negative side, the organization of the in-person screening in Portland was poor. Besides starting an hour late, the organizer, who was quite articulate and could have been a helpful ongoing presence at the screenings, spoke to us a total of maybe 7 minutes. The "award ceremony" consisted of placing envelopes on the floor of the stage for all of us present to pick up. The "networking opportunities" consisted of whatever individual efforts the individuals present took to walk up to others attending to introduce themselves. I would note that the photographer from the festival was friendly and professional. She was the only one from the festival who engaged with us individually.

    March 2025
  • Jonathan Derksen

    Thanks so much to Mikel and the crew at the Oregon Documentary Film Festival. We attended the January 26th screening in person and it was wonderful to meet some of the other filmmakers in attendance. To be clear, this is a great place to network with other creators and is not designed to cater to big crowds. The Clinton theatre is an intimate, nicely-refurbished venue in a great part of Portland. We were ecstatic that "Voices for Madidi" received Best Cinematography. Thank you again for a great experience!

    February 2025
  • Robin Metzler

    It was a great first experience submitting to a film festival. Zeami and Mikel are fantastic.

    The online interview was seamless and having the opportunity to create a movie poster was fantastic as well. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend however, there is the chance to view the event photos and even print your own certificate with the pdfs provided.

    A big thank you to the entire team at Oregon Documentary Film Festival.

    October 2024
  • 育华 詹

    It has indeed been an honor. The entire production team was ecstatic. Thank you so much and keep up the excellent work!!!

    October 2024