SDFF 2021 CALL FOR ENTRIES
🎬 Note Revised Festival Event Dates: June 10 - 13, 2021
In light of ever changing COVID-19 conditions, and the impact on our industry, audience and bottom line we’re moving forward on the 2021 calendar. All other posted deadlines remain in place. If regulations at that time permit, live screenings will again be possible.
Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is a bridge for independent non-fiction filmmakers from anywhere in the world to reach their audience. Since our beginning in 2007, each film programmed for SDFF is a signature of excellence in craft, character and storytelling. We are driven by an immense curiosity to learn and understand the lives of others, lives different from our own.
Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is proud to announce that it has been approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as an Academy Qualifying Festival for the Documentary Short Subject category. Recipients of the SDFF Jury Award for Short Subject and Jury Award for Mini-Doc are now eligible for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.
This past year has been marked by global upheaval of outrageous proportions. That change has only strengthened our commitment to filmmakers: to deliver your work to as wide an audience as possible, while insisting on preserving integrity, security and the value of your endeavors. Our commitment to the audience is to provide the best independent documentary films that engage, inform and excite. We also have a commitment to the safety of all who participate. We are optimistic that SDFF 2021 can take place with few restrictions but are prepared to be flexible in how we fulfill our role in providing exemplary documentary work. We relish the opportunity to experience life through another lens; to reveal storytelling through voices familiar and obscure; to explore frames of information as a base for critical thought and decisions.
Here is the experience of one Film Director:
"What makes a film festival great? Well, there are many answers to that, and some are logistical, have to do with panels, number of screenings, etc. but there is always a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that sends a festival into an entirely different realm. Your festival has that. Somehow when you add up the films, the theaters, panels, and the volunteers and their endless smiles and patience, and the filmmakers in attendance, you come up with a weekend that feeds the heart and soul. That is what you accomplished. Thank you."
Sebastopol is in Sonoma County, California. On a good traffic day, we’re only an hour north of San Francisco. We are a mix of small-town folk, organic farmers, prize-winning vintners, musicians, environmentalists, old hippies and more artists per acre than we can count. We’re curious, engaged, opinionated and welcoming to all. Take some time to see if this is the Festival that fits your film. The documentary film community knows us. Ask around.
Jury Award Feature: $1,000 - 40 minutes & over
Jury Award Short: $750 - 10-39 minutes
Jury Award Mini-Doc: $750 - Under 10 minutes
Audience Award: TBD - Feature
Audience Award: TBD - Short
All films selected for SDFF 2021 are considered eligible for competition except those titles curated and invited for special programs.