RIDM - Montreal International Documentary Festival

Eligibility Requirements

• The RIDM’s programming is focused on auteur documentaries. All formats and/or topics are welcome.
• The RIDM accepts submissions of :

-Works must have been produced after December 1, 2023.

-Works must be subtitled in either French or English (if the original language is neither French nor English).

Incomplete submissions will not be considered (see "Submission Procedure" below).

-Works previously rejected by the RIDM may not be resubmitted.

-Selected films must grant the RIDM the Quebec premiere, meaning they cannot be broadcast, webcast or screened-in Quebec before being shown at the RIDM.

Submission Procedure
• Read and accept the Rules and Regulations.
• Pay submission fees.
• Submit the submission form.

Screeners
• A functioning link to a password-protected screener of the work must be included in the registration form.
• Rough cuts are accepted. You have until one month after the closing of the call (July 15, 2025) to send us the most up-to-date version of the film at info@ridm.ca.
After that, we'll consider what we have in hands.

Payments must be made via PayPal. Payments via PayPal do not require a PayPal account. Only a credit card is required.
IMPORTANT: If a rights holder (main contact) asks for withdrawal of his submission, the submission fees are not reimbursed.

Confirmation of Selected Works
The person identified as the "Main Contact" on the form will be notified of the selection or rejection of the submitted work between September 30 and October 4, 2025.

The obligation of the RIDM
The RIDM is committed to considering all works submitted and to conveying the final decision to the Main Contact for each work.

Obligations of Rights Holders of Selected Works
Following receipt of a notice of selection, rights holders agree to sign an irrevocable licence agreement with the RIDM allowing for the screening and promotion of the selected work(s) in the festival. Failure to sign the licence within the specified time frame and under the prescribed terms and conditions will result in the festival retracting its selection.

Guarantees
• The rights holder refers to the person identified as the "Main Contact" in the submission form.
• The rights holder of the submitted work declares and guarantees that they hold all rights, including intellectual and private property rights, titles and interests in the work they are submitting to RIDM.
• The rights holder further declares and guarantees that the work being submitted is entirely original and that none of its content undermines or attacks the privacy, honour or reputation of any third party.
• By virtue of the above guarantees, rights holders agree to indemnify and take up the defence of the RIDM and, as applicable, its assigns, successor agents and rights holders, for all damages, expenses, fees and reasonable expenses incurred by the RIDM as the result of any action taken by a third party due to non-compliance with any of the preceding declarations and guarantees.
• The rights holder of the submitted work undertakes to provide complete, accurate and factual information about the work, including, but not limited to, its country of production, as determined by its sources of funding and production partners. In the case of Canadian co-productions, the countries of production are defined in accordance with Telefilm Canada’s audiovisual co-production treaties and memorandums of understanding between Canada and foreign countries or territories. Any omission or misrepresentation of these elements may impact the eligibility of the work, even after selection.
• Regardless of the countries of production specified in the submission, the rights holder must disclose any external sources of funding upon request from RIDM’s programming team. This includes all sources of funding, whether governmental, private, non-profit, academic, or individual, including patronage.
• RIDM reserves the right to reject or disqualify any work whose country of production or co-production, or any of its associated entities, is subject to sanctions, restrictions, or boycotts, or whose participation may be deemed inconsistent with the festival’s values of peace, justice, and human rights. This provision applies regardless of the source or percentage of funding. The decision to reject or disqualify an entry is at the sole discretion of RIDM and is not subject to appeal.
• By virtue of the guarantees provided above, the rights holder for the submitted work agrees to assume full responsibility and to indemnify and hold harmless RIDM, as well as their assignees, agents, successors, and legal beneficiaries, against any damages, expenses, fees, and reasonable costs incurred or suffered as a result of any claim, lawsuit, or legal action brought by a third party due to non-compliance with the present declarations and guarantees.

Waivers
In an ongoing effort of reparation, we invite Indigenous filmmakers, producers or rights holders to write to info@ridm.ca to submit your works free of charge.

Our mission also consists of encouraging and promoting documentary work from filmmakers facing difficult situations. We therefore invite people living in challenging situations to write to us at info@ridm.ca so that we can review their individual situation and authorize a free submission. We take many factors into account, such as countries in armed conflict, bans on the use of credit cards abroad (e.g. Iran), precarious national economic situations, and so on.

For more information
info@ridm.ca