Doc Screenings International Documentary Film Festival

Where True Stories Find Their Voice

Doc Screenings is a global celebration of documentary storytelling, spotlighting films that challenge, inspire, and reveal the truth. From deeply personal portraits to global investigations, this is the festival where real stories matter.

We showcase selected documentaries at live screenings in Tbilisi, Georgia, and through our exclusive Festival Channel, bringing them directly to distributors, industry professionals, and engaged audiences around the world.

Every selected film receives real audience feedback!
Our curated audience, including filmmakers, critics, educators, and passionate viewers, shares structured reviews for each film. These appear on your film’s dedicated page on our platform, helping you evaluate your impact and expand your film’s reach.

What Makes Doc Screenings Different?
🟢 Live Screenings + Curated Audience – Your documentary screens in-person for engaged viewers in Georgia’s vibrant capital.
🟢 Audience Ratings + Reviews – Receive direct feedback across 6 key parameters: direction, cinematography, emotional impact, and more.
🟢 Festival Channel (Optional) – Extend your reach through our secure online platform, accessible worldwide to invited and registered viewers.
🟢 Fan Award Voting – Boost your visibility through social media fan voting before the festival.
🟢 Industry Recognition & Awards – Get recognized by our professional jury and audiences alike.
🟢 Extended Exposure – Winning and standout projects receive additional visibility, strategic support, and invitations to distribution pathways.

What You Get When You Submit
✅ Official Selection Certificate + Digital Laurels
✅ Audience Feedback & Rating Report
✅ In-Person & Channel Screening Opportunities
✅ Eligibility for Awards (Jury, Audience, Fan Vote)
✅ Post-Festival Visibility (film page remains live for 1 month)

Every selected film gets a dedicated page with audience feedback, which remains live post-event for 30 days (extensions available upon request).

📌 Whether you're telling a local story with global impact or exploring underrepresented topics, Doc Screenings Fest is the platform for your voice.

Awards & Prizes

Doc Screenings International Documentary Film Festival celebrates excellence in nonfiction storytelling across a wide range of themes and styles. Our jury and audience members recognize the most compelling, insightful, and innovative works.

🏆Main Awards:

🏆Best Feature Documentary
🏆Best Short Documentary
🏆Best Director
🏆Best Debut Feature Documentary
🏆Best Student Documentary

🌍 Thematic Awards:

🏆Best Social Documentary
🏆Best Health/Disability Documentary
🏆Best Nature / Ecology / Environmental Documentary
🏆Best Human & Social Sciences Documentary
🏆Best Science / Educational Documentary
🏆Best Art / Experimental Documentary
🏆Best Music / Dance Documentary
🏆Best Political / Investigative Documentary
🏆Best Historical Documentary
🏆Best Cultural Heritage Documentary
🏆Best Portrait / Biographical Documentary

🎥 Special Recognition Awards

🏆Best Documentary by a Female Director
🏆Best Indigenous Storytelling
🏆Best Youth Perspective
🏆Best Cinematography / Editing / Sound Design

👥 Audience & Engagement Awards

🏆Festival Winner (Top-rated by live screening audiences)
🏆Channel Audience Choice Award (Highest score from online viewers)

All award-winning films receive:

✅ Digital Winner Certificate
✅ Official Festival Laurels
✅ Personalized Festival Diploma
✅ Film Page with Audience Feedback & Reviews (available 30 days after the event)
✅ Access to distribution & strategy services with special offers

Additional non-awarded selections also receive:

✅ Official Selection Certificate & Laurels
✅ Film Page with audience feedback and visibility

Rules & Terms

Doc Screenings International focuses on documentary films that explore real-world issues, human stories, culture, science, health, and social change. We are especially interested in films that provoke thought, deepen understanding, and spark dialogue.

General Terms:

The official festival language is English.
The festival accepts projects (films and music videos) in any language, but all non-English submissions must have English subtitles (burned-in or .srt format).
The festival only accepts digital submissions (via web links or uploads to the festival platform). DVDs or physical submissions are not accepted.
All films must have been completed in production no earlier than 2019.
The submission fee is non-refundable.
The festival does not provide fee waivers.
Submissions are completed via credit card or PayPal through the platforms listed on the festival website.
The festival organizers reserve the right to make changes to the screening format, venue, and schedule if necessary.

Selection Process & Screening Conditions:

Submitted projects go through a preliminary selection process. Not all submitted projects will be accepted.
Preliminary accepted projects may be included in the festival Long List if they align with the festival’s vision and meet the initial criteria.
Long-listed projects may receive a dedicated informational page on the festival’s website:
- This page does not provide access to watch the project outside of festival screenings.
- It serves to promote the project within the festival’s network and industry community.
The final Official Selection is determined after further review of content, quality, and required materials.
All the official selected projects receive official selected laurels by email.
Projects will only be screened if all necessary materials are provided on time, including:
- A high-quality screener (MP4 or MOV format)
- English subtitles (if applicable)
- Trailer and promotional materials (if available)
The festival reserves the right not to screen a selected project if:
- Technical issues prevent proper projection.
- The provided materials do not meet the required quality standards.
- The filmmaker does not submit the required materials by the deadline.
Online screenings are optional. If a filmmaker does not wish for their project to be shown on the Festival Channel, they must inform the festival in advance. Films selected for the Festival Channel are available only to registered and invited viewers during the festival dates.

Audience Voting & Feedback:

The audience rates projects screened at live events and on the Festival Channel based on multiple criteria, such as Directing, Cinematography, Acting, Music/Sound Design, Storytelling/Script, Overall Impact
Filmmakers receive their project’s audience ratings and feedback after the festival.
Audience reviews are posted on the project’s informational page on the festival website for additional visibility.

Venue & Schedule Adjustments:

The festival screenings take place at venues determined by the festival producers.
The festival reserves the right to change the screening venue, format, and/or schedule at its sole discretion. This may occur due to external circumstances, including but not limited to: Venue availability changes, Safety concerns or unforeseen restrictions, Technical issues affecting screenings, Force majeure or other unexpected disruptions etc.

Awards & Prizes:

The Festival Jury determines the Category Award Winners.
The Fan Award Winner is determined by public voting on social media (based on Likes, Shares, and Saves).
The Channel Audience Choice Award Winner is determined by voting on the Festival Channel.
The Festival Winner is determined by live audience voting at the event.
The festival reserves the right not to award certain categories if no project meets the necessary The festival reserves the right to rename award categories to better reflect the winning project’s strengths.
All winners receive digital laurels, certificates, and diplomas via email.
Officially selected but not awarded Projects receive the certificates via email.

Filmmaker Support & Additional Opportunities

All selected projects, including Long-listed and Official Selection projects, may receive distribution and promotion offers from our team and partners.
Projects will have dedicated informational pages on the festival website, featuring:
- Audience reviews and feedback
- Project details for visibility among festival attendees and potential buyers
- The page will remain accessible for one month after the festival and may be extended.
Selected and awarded films may be offered follow-up support in the form of festival strategy guidance, audience analysis reports, and curated VOD outreach opportunities through the Live Screenings Network team.

16 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • sergey chetveruhin

    It was incredibly important and valuable for me to participate in the festival with the film "The Budetlyane" The well-established communication between the audience and the filmmakers, through reviews on the website, is the most important aspect for the creators. Thank you! The feedback has helped me to see the film in a different light and understand it in a way that I had not before. And for the people who starred in the film, it was an exciting adventure!

    March 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Dear Sergey,

    Thank you very much for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful review about your experience with the festival. We truly appreciate it.

    It means a lot to us that the dialogue between filmmakers and the audience, especially through the comments and reactions on the project page, was valuable for you and your team. Creating this kind of exchange is one of the key goals of Doc Screenings.

    Thank you again for participating in the festival and for sharing your reflections.

    Warm regards,
    Doc Screenings Team

  • Eric Dean Freese

    Our film team was excited to be an Official Selection of The 2026 Doc Screenings International Documentary Film Festival, and deeply honored to receive the award for Best Science/Educational Documentary!

    We value not only the feedback from the festival jurors, but also from the audience. This feedback is critical to for us to achieve our ongoing goals of become better filmmakers, and telling more interesting stories. In addition, we felt an authentic, personal connection with the festival organizers through our communications. Their attention to detail was very much appreciated.

    March 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Dear Eric,

    Thank you for your thoughtful message and for sharing such kind feedback about your experience with Doc Screenings.

    We were honored to include The Collins Story – The Internet Connection in this year’s program and glad to see the film recognized with the Best Science/Educational Documentary award.

    It means a lot to us that the audience responses and the communication throughout the festival were valuable for your team. Supporting meaningful dialogue between filmmakers and audiences is an important part of why we run these screenings.

    We wish you and your team continued success with the film and look forward to staying in touch.

    Warm regards,
    Doc Screenings Team

  • Christian Wehrle

    I am deeply honored and grateful to have been part of the Doc Screenings International Documentary Film Festival. Receiving the award for Best Debut Feature Documentary for HIDDEN WORLDS truly means a lot to me.

    What makes this festival especially remarkable is its personal, authentic atmosphere. Despite being an international event, it feels intimate and genuinely connected to the filmmakers. The thoughtful jury statement and the personal comments published on the project page made the experience feel sincere and meaningful, not anonymous or distant.

    Communication with the team was warm, professional, and supportive throughout. It is clear that the people behind the festival truly care about documentary cinema and about the filmmakers themselves.

    Thank you for selecting my film, for the recognition, and for creating such a heartfelt festival experience. I highly recommend Doc Screenings to other filmmakers looking for a respectful, personal, and well-organized platform for their work.

    February 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Dear Christian,

    Thank you very much for your generous and thoughtful words.

    We were truly honored to include Hidden Worlds in this year’s program and delighted that the film received the Best Debut Feature Documentary award. It means a lot to us that the jury statement and the comments on the project page resonated with you.

    Creating a space where filmmakers feel personally connected to the audience and the festival team is something we care deeply about, so your feedback is especially meaningful to us.

    We wish you continued success with Hidden Worlds and look forward to following its journey.

    Warm regards,
    Doc Screenings Team

  • Artem Burlov

    Hello everyone.

    Unfortunately, Tbilisi was left without a nomination.

    But the good news is that the film from Buryatia took part in the international film festival, received feedback from viewers and international experts on the official page of the film on the festival's platform.

    I will publish some of them, with a translation.

    It's a very emotional and powerful film. Soviet repression and forced emigration destroyed many talented people, and this pain is very familiar to us in Georgia. Inkizhinov's fate is a tragedy, but his European success inspires. The fact that his name has been banned for 70 years is simply shocking.

    The director did a great job.

    What a tragic and majestic figure! The scale of emigration after 1917 is usually told through the prism of the Russian aristocracy, but seeing it through the eyes of a Buryat actor in Paris is a completely new perspective. Artyom Burlov managed to restore the missing fragment of the history of European cinema. The finale with the pilot and the Arc de Triomphe was very poetic. A wonderful tribute..

    February 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Dear Artem,

    Thank you for sharing your reflections and for highlighting the audience responses to Buryat in European cinema.

    We’re glad the film could be part of the international program and that the discussions and comments from viewers and experts were meaningful for you and your team. One of the goals of Doc Screenings is exactly to create a space where films can meet audiences from different backgrounds and generate thoughtful dialogue.

    Thank you again for participating in the festival and for sharing these reactions with your community.

    Warm regards,
    Doc Screenings Team

  • Trademark Films

    We were delighted to be selected for The Doc Screenings International Film Festival. The festival itself was amazing as you could also attend online so we were able to see the other awesome films! And we were honored to be awarded the Best Debut Feature Documentary category!

    November 2025
    Helpful