The Oregon Documentary Film Festival is a theatrical screening event on the Film Festival Circuit that screens  international independent documentary films in Portland. 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.

Awards & Prizes

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

Rules & Terms

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. For exhibition purposes. all films are expected to provide a download link, so that we can compile and project them in HD 1080p. 23.976, 24, 25 or 30 frame rates are accepted for projection. Please do not submit 720p or Standard Definition films to this festival.

The submission fee does not include an event ticket fee if selected. Submission fees and event ticket fees are separate. The cost of attending this event is $25 for the entire day. Every attendee must have a ticket. There are no filmmaker passes.
44 Reviews
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  • Anup Kulkarni

    This festival is 100% worth the entry fee. We had a short Documentary and couldn't attend due to covid but these folks really take care of their filmmakers. Mikel is wonderful! Communication was efficient and friendly, questions were always answered, they promote all their projects online non-stop. It was a highlight festival experience for us and we can't wait to attend in person someday.

    Thank you, ODFF for the great experience!

    August 2021
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  • Amber Rose McNeill

    I didn’t make the event due to COVID but the communication leading up to the event was great. Very well organised & a good selection of films. Very professional.

    July 2021
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  • Jacob Spiers

    I have nothing but good things to say about my experience with ODFF, 5 stars all around! Mikel Fair is on his game when it comes to directing a festival, especially during Covid. I'm happy to be nominated, and the best part for me was seeing my documentary on the big screen at my first drive-in experience. I would definitely submit again on my next project, and urge others to as well.

    April 2021
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  • Tijana Mamula

    Thank you for including my film in your 2021 edition! Wonderful organizers, really forthcoming and easy to communicate with. I couldn’t attend because of COVID but I really appreciated the fact that it was a live (drive-in) festival rather than online only!

    March 2021
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  • John Pings

    Thank you very much for having “Oregon’s Water Colors” participate in Oregon Documentary Film Festival, Winter 2021, what a thrill! As an artist all I can think is I’m so happy when somebody will see the film and experience the natural beauty of Oregon. Thank you for honoring our film as a selection. The part where people might get a few minute quarantine break and watch some of Oregon's Nature & Steelhead Fishing in SoCal & beyond is pretty cool for this artist. We are simply #VeryGrateful. Great event, and it ended up being our Film’s North American Premiere!, Even better ODDF and Mikel hosted an actual festival! so we could actually go. Neat Venue, wonderful communication & great fun people, this is an A+ Festival, Recommend.

    March 2021
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