DOC NYC, the festival for documentaries, is an annual in-person and online event based in Manhattan at the IFC Center and other venues, celebrating its 17th edition in 2026. Voted by MovieMaker magazine as one of the "top five coolest documentary film festivals in the world," the nineteen-day event showcases new achievements in documentary film along with panels and conversations with acclaimed filmmakers and industry professionals.

Filmmakers selected for DOC NYC’s main slate have the opportunity to make in-person connections with the wider New York and international documentary industry ecosphere by receiving festival passes providing rush access to Official Selection films as well as DOC NYC PRO panel programming.

“DOC NYC has become America’s most influential documentary festival.” - Variety

"This cinematic bonanza covers everything new and noteworthy in the world of documentary filmmaking.” - The Huffington Post

“DOC NYC has become an essential summit for all kinds of documentary filmmaking.” – Wall Street Journal

Launched in 2010, DOC NYC quickly became America's largest documentary film festival. The festival audience continued to grow through the pandemic years as DOC NYC maintained its impressive size and expanded its dates and capacity to include online screenings. The 2026 edition will continue DOC NYC’s hybrid format, welcoming filmmakers and audiences back into New York theaters from November 11 - 19, and then continuing online through November 29. The festival has hosted hundreds of world premieres over the years including "Thoughts & Prayers", "Yalla Parkour", "The Bibi Files", "David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived", “Making a Murderer,” “Amazing Grace,” “Far From the Tree,” “Dean Martin: King of Cool,” and “Adrienne.”

The festival annually attracts a Who’s Who of documentary filmmakers. Past attendees include Barbara Kopple, Werner Herzog, Laura Poitras, Raoul Peck, Agnes Varda, Wim Wenders, Stanley Nelson, Errol Morris, Daniel Roher, Mstyslav Chernov, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Julia Reichart & Steven Bognar, Amy Berg, Morgan Neville, Jesse Moss & Amanda McBaine, Brett Morgen, Matthew Heineman, Davis Guggenheim, Margaret Brown, Lucy Walker, Maite Alberdi, Asif Kapadia, Michael Moore, Dawn Porter, Ondi Timoner, Ramin Bahrani, E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Shaunak Sen, Sara Dosa, David France, Michele Stephenson & Joe Brewster, and many more.

Additionally, the location of New York City creates unique opportunities for special guest appearances. Past DOC NYC guests include Martin Scorsese, Whoopi Goldberg, Rashida Jones, Daniel Radcliffe, Oscar Isaac, Sarah Jessica Parker, Peter Sarsgaard, Steve Madden, Dan Rather, Ethan Hawke, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Olympia Dukakis, Jim Carrey, Sarah Polley, Reverend Al Sharpton, Ricki Lake, Sonja Sohn, Jonathan Franzen, Dick Cavett, Harvey Fierstein, Alfre Woodard, Omar Epps, Sonia Sanchez, Jonathan Lethem, Greil Marcus, Mariska Hargitay, Jim Jarmusch, Billie Jean King, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ramy Yousef, Kenneth Cole, Thom Browne, Ronan Farrow, Marlee Matlin, Brooke Shields, and many more.

Music films have always thrived at the festival in the Sonic Cinema section and other categories. Special guests over the years include Dionne Warwick, Kenny G, Itzhak Perlman, David Byrne, Janis Ian, Kathleen Hanna, Anohni, Bela Fleck, J Cole, Jakob Dylan, Ronnie Spector, Steven Van Zandt, Cissy Houston, Fanny, Spandau Ballet, Idina Menzel, Wynton Marsalis and The Mekons.

DOC NYC 2025 grand jury prize winners included “Traces of Home”, “Imago” and “Artists in Residence,” with the audience award presented to “The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control.”

Episodics are welcome and programmed within existing categories. Hybrid and form-challenging work is also expressly welcomed within existing categories.

PREMIERE STATUS REQUIREMENTS:

DOC NYC gives strong programming priority to World or U.S. premieres for feature films, but the minimum status to participate in the festival for both features and shorts is a New York City (5 Boroughs) premiere. The only exceptions to the NYC premiere policy are for films playing in the Short List, Winner’s Circle, and Selects Encore sections - these do not require any type of premiere status.

COMPETITION SECTIONS:

DOC NYC has four competition sections:

U.S. Competition – A spectrum of high quality documentaries produced in the U.S. Of the eight films selected in 2025, seven were World premieres including “Traces of Home”, "Thoughts & Prayers”, and “Santacon.”

International Competition – A spectrum of high quality documentaries produced outside the U.S. Of the eight films selected in 2024, all were International or U.S. premieres including “Imago”, “9-Month Contract”, and “El Canto de las Manos”.

Metropolis Competition – Established in the festival’s first year (2010), this section focuses on stories and personalities rooted in New York City. Past titles include World premieres of "Artists in Residence", "Slumlord Millionaire", "Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse", "Anxiety Club", “Roberta”, “End of the Line,” “Mr. Saturday Night,” “Wojnarowicz,” “Moments Like This Never Last,” “Lydia Lunch – The War Is Never Over,” and “Decade of Fire;” and U.S. premieres of “Hold Your Fire,” “The Photography,” “Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco,” “Winter at Westbeth,” and “The Sarnos – A Life in Dirty Pictures.”

Shorts Competition – Selections of nonfiction shorts, organized thematically. Past titles include Seung-jun Yi’s “In the Absence,” Kate Davis' "Traffic Stop", Darius Clark Monroe’s “Black 14,” Rishi Chadna’s “Tungrus,” Lydia Cornett’s “Yves & Variation,” Alison Klayman’s “Flower Punk,” and Laura Poitras and Henrik Moltke’s “Project X”.

Note: The DOC NYC Shorts Competition Grand Jury Prize Winner qualifies in the Documentary Short category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.

Additionally, all United Kingdom short films that are programmed in the Shorts Competition category will be qualified for BAFTA's British Short Film category.

NON-COMPETITION SECTIONS:

Special Events – High-profile events and guests. Past titles include the World premieres of "The Trial of Alec Baldwin", "We Met at Grossinger's", "June", "David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived", "Uncropped", “Kevin Garnett: Anything is Possible” (featuring the NBA star in person), the new season of IFC TV's "Documentary Now!" (with Seth Meyers, John Mulaney, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Richard Kind in person), "City of Joy" (with Eve Ensler and Thandiwe Newton in person), the Bruce Springsteen concert doc "Darkness on the Edge of Town” (with Max Weinberg and Thom Zimny in person), "Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?" (with Noam Chomsky and Michel Gondry in person), Amy Berg’s "An Open Secret;” and U.S. premieres of "Finding Vivian Maier," "Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band" (with Robbie Robertson in person), "Sing Me The Songs That Say I Love You" (with Rufus Wainwright in person), and "Charlotte Rampling: The Look" (with Charlotte Rampling in person).

In addition, DOC NYC annually presents several thematic strands, which can change from year to year. Among these have been Sonic Cinema on music films; Game Face Cinema covering the sports world; Fight the Power on activist stories; Photography & Film on stories of image making; and Portraits that encompass biographical work.

SHORT LISTS, WINNER’S CIRCLE and SELECTS ENCORE
DOC NYC has separate sections designed to showcase films that are leading contenders for the Oscars and other awards. For these sections, it does not matter if the film has already been screened in New York City or is currently in release.

Submissions for these four sections will open up separately in July 2026. To be eligible for these sections, films must have fulfilled Oscar-qualification requirements by the 2026 Academy deadline. For more information about DOC NYC’s Short Lists, Winner’s Circle, and Selects Encore programs and how to submit your film for consideration, please visit: https://filmfreeway.com/DOCNYCShortListsandWinnersCircle. NOTE: Films that are submitted for Short Lists, Winner’s Circle or Selects Encore consideration will not be considered for DOC NYC’s main slate programs.

Short List: Features - This section, launched in 2011, curates 15 features and has been a leading predictor of future Oscar nominees and winners.

Short List: Shorts - This section, first launched in 2018, curates 15 shorts and has quickly established a strong track record for anticipating future Oscar nominees.

Winner’s Circle - This section, introduced in 2019, highlights films that have won major festival awards but might fly below the radar of American audiences. Past films shown in Winner’s Circle that went on to make the Oscars’ Short List for Documentary Feature include "Hollywoodgate", “Writing with Fire,” “The Mole Agent,” “Bad Axe,” “A House Made of Splinters,” "Apolonia, Apolonia", "Beyond Utopia", "In the Rearview", “Midnight Family,” and “Advocate”.

Selects Encore - A selection of films that have played earlier in the year at DOC NYC Selects, and have qualified and submitted to the Academy Awards.

ACCESSIBILITY AT THE FESTIVAL

DOC NYC is committed to working with filmmakers to continually improve accessibility for all audiences.

For online exhibition, we strongly encourage all filmmakers to provide their films with closed captioning via VTT file so all home audience members have the option of watching with captions.

For theatrical play, we strongly encourage all filmmakers to submit their films with closed captioning and descriptive audio. We also welcome open caption versions.

For specific questions related to accessibility, please email accessibility@docnyc.net for more information.

Awards & Prizes

DOC NYC annually presents juried awards to Competition titles in the following categories:

US COMPETITION
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
METROPOLIS COMPETITION
SHORTS COMPETITION
ARCHIVAL STORYTELLING COMPETITION (new for 2026)*

*Nominees for the Archival Storytelling Competition will be selected by DOC NYC's Senior Program team from among all Main Slate feature films in existing sections.

Additionally, DOC NYC presents an Audience Award that is open to all features screening in the main slate section of the festival, with the exception of films in the Short List, Winner's Circle, Selects Encore, or retrospective films.

The DOC NYC Shorts Competition Grand Jury Prize Winner qualifies in the Documentary Short Subject category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.

Short films that will pre-qualify for the 99th Academy Awards Documentary Short category are encouraged to review and consider a separate application for DOC NYC's The Louies, which will award $100,000 to three short films who qualify. Learn more at https://www.docnyc.net/the-louies/

Subject Matter is back at DOC NYC for a fourth consecutive year! In 2026, Subject Matter will award a $30,000 grant to one social issue documentary in our program, along with a corresponding $30,000 grant to a nonprofit addressing the issues featured in the film. To qualify, the documentary must be feature length and address a social issue currently impacting the United States. The Subject Matter film grant can be used to support the film's outreach, impact, and distribution efforts.

The Shine Global Resilience Award prize at DOC NYC honors a film and filmmaker who highlights and celebrates the inspiring strength, creativity, and power of children with a $2,500 cash prize and strategic support and consulting from Shine Global.  Previous Shine Global Resilience Award winners programmed at DOC NYC include Name Me Lawand and Daughters.

Rules & Terms

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

• DOC NYC gives strong programming preference to pre-release new films that have not yet been widely screened. For the 2026 edition, we are ideally seeking films for World or US premieres, or for their potential DOC NYC screenings to be one of the next significant screenings in the film’s journey (for films that have already world premiered elsewhere).

• The absolute minimum requirement to participate in DOC NYC is a New York City (5 Boroughs) premiere.

• Films that have world premiered earlier than September 2025 will not receive programming preference.

• To be eligible for inclusion (other than Short Lists, Winner’s Circle and Selects Encore sections), Features, Episodics and Shorts must not have screened in-person publicly in NYC prior to the Festival, nor have been broadcast on US television or made available online* before the festival, nor commercially released on DVD/Blu-ray, VOD, or for download to the public.
(*NOTE: Films that have premiered at other festivals/series/events and been part of an online component at those events, provided that the organizers of those events are not based within the five boroughs of NYC, can be exempted from this rule. If you have questions about the eligibility of your film, please email submissions@docnyc.net before submitting.)

• Feature documentaries are forty-one (41) minutes to 150 minutes. Shorts are forty (40) minutes or shorter, including all credits. Episodics or Long-Form Features may be any length, but if Episodic, at least 50% of the series episodes should be submitted for consideration.

• If the documentary is in a language other than English, it must be subtitled in English.

• Promotional, instructional, industrial films, or raw documentation of performances are not eligible.

• At this time, DOC NYC does not have a VR or interactive category, so these kinds of projects are not eligible for consideration. Should that change for a future edition, we will include information on requirements and eligibility on both the DOC NYC website and FilmFreeway.

SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES:

• All submissions MUST be made via FilmFreeway. We do not accept submissions made by email.
• If you change your screener link, or the password connected to it, make sure to update this in your FilmFreeway entry and to email the updated information to submissions@docnyc.net.
• While you may update your submitted video link with a revised cut of your film, please note that we generally are only able to view one cut of a submission. If your update takes place after we have already reviewed the previous cut of your film, we cannot guarantee that we will watch the revised cut.
• Please Note: We do not accept DVDs as a submission format. All entries must be submitted by link connected through your FilmFreeway entry.
• Filmmakers may submit more than one documentary, but each documentary must be accompanied by its own Entry Form and Entry Fee.
• The Entry Fee is non-refundable.
• Mailed materials will not be returned. Please do not send DCPs, film prints, master tapes, or other originals.
• All entrants will be notified of their status on or around September 15, 2026, via email.
• Please keep us informed of any changes regarding your contact information by emailing submissions@docnyc.net.
• Due to the number of submissions received, DOC NYC, unfortunately, cannot provide feedback on entries.
• Unless your film is officially selected for inclusion in the festival, DOC NYC's name or logo may not be used in any of your film’s marketing and/or promotional materials.
• Filmmakers cannot submit Features to specific competitive or thematic sections. The DOC NYC programming team determines section placement after film selections have been made.
• For questions regarding submissions, see Festival Description or email submissions@docnyc.net.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

By submitting this documentary film (the “Film”), I understand that I am agreeing to the following:
• I have the legal right to represent and to submit this Film to the DOC NYC film festival (the "Festival”) and IFC Theatres LLC (“IFC”) and all statements on this document are true;
• There is no action, suit, claim or proceeding pending, affecting or, to the best of my knowledge, threatened against this Film or its producers, cast, or crew in connection with this Film or otherwise;
• Unless the film is officially selected for inclusion at the Festival, I understand that I cannot use the DOC NYC name or logo in any of my film’s marketing and/or promotional materials;
• Music and any other third party material clearances and all copyright clearances are my sole responsibility and, if selected for the Festival, I agree that the Film will be fully cleared prior to the first screening at the Festival and no part of the Film will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party. None of the Festival or IFC will be held responsible for any legal disputes regarding the exhibition of the Film. Noncompliance may affect, delay, and/or disqualify my entry.
• If the Film is selected for screening at the Festival, I grant each of the Festival and IFC the right to screen the Film at the Festival;
• I understand and agree that the Film, if selected for the Festival, may be used for promotional purposes for the Festival, IFC and/or its affiliates, partners and sponsors; and I grant each of the Festival and IFC, and its affiliates, partners and sponsors, the right to use provided footage (not to exceed 5 minutes), stills and/or titles and information from the Film for such promotional purposes;
• Should the Film win any award, I am authorized and/or empowered by all parties legally representing and/or owning the Film to receive all cash prizes and awards and to distribute them appropriately;
• I fully indemnify and hold the Festival, IFC, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, sponsors, licensees, and assigns harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses in connection with the Film, including:
• reasonable attorneys’ fees and other expenses of defense arising from or in connection with any breach of any of the foregoing agreements, representations or warranties or from or in connection with any litigation or any claim or proceeding commenced by a third party alleging or arising from libel, slander, defamation, invasion of privacy, infringement, unauthorized use or any other right of such third party or wrongful conduct; and any claims which may arise in connection with the Film.

IF SELECTED:

If the Film is selected to screen at the Festival, you will need to provide the following:
• Digitally uploaded Projection DCP and digital on-line file by the required deadline. The filmmaker is responsible for the delivery costs of the DCP costs to the Festival.
• Press kits, trailers, promotional materials, and screener links (for jury screenings, if selected for competition) for preview.
• Screener links for the Festival’s registered press and industry passholders (optional).

Please do not send these materials until your Film is selected for the program. The Festival reserves the right to complete any information not supplied by the filmmaker from whatever source available and will not be responsible if incorrect information is entered.

The Festival strives to make online and in-person screenings accessible to visually impaired and Blind/Deaf patrons. The Festival encourages filmmakers to provide descriptive audio and closed captioning in the Festival’s specified formats, if available, but the Festival will not be responsible for creating these film files.

Note: The Festival does not pay screening fees for films shown in theaters. If a feature film is shown on DOC NYC’s online platform, the Festival has a program to share revenue with the film’s rightsholder (short films are not eligible for this program). For feature films that have a director based over 200 miles outside of New York City, if the director travels to attend the film’s in-person screening, the Festival can provide a modest flat honorarium in support of travel, but does not otherwise cover any expenses.

Note: The Festival has the right to change any information contained in this document (including Festival dates, venues, events, presentation format, awards, and eligibility requirements) without further notice.

56 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
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Networking
  • Özgün Gündüz

    What an amazing experience it was! From the first communications to the orientations for filmmakers around marketing and visibility, the team provided all the support for filmmakers who had a film in the program and travelled to the festival to attend. I especially appreciated the happy hour venue, a dedicated bar for filmmakers to connect. Q&A was handled with care as well. I'm so happy and grateful for our film Burcu's Angels to be selected and to have a chance to participate in person.

    June 2026
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  • Beatriz Jurema

    An amazing festival with tremendous resources and impactful films! We had a blast at DOC NYC, and hope to be back soon.

    December 2025
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  • Amy Scott

    One of the best film festivals I've been to. Excellent communication leading up to and during the festival, super friendly and responsive staff (special shout-out to Francesca and Karen), and a wonderful premiere experience. I highly recommend taking advantage of the pro conference sessions. Hope to be back!

    December 2025
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  • Johannes Kroemer

    Easily the best festival I have been to. Not only were the films truly top notch and the organization flawless. The Pro conference gave me tons of new ideas. Through all that transcended a warmth that made the experience truly special. Amazing job everyone! And thank you for screening our doc "Grit" at a full house at IFC. We will cherish this for a long time to come. Can't wait to be back!

    December 2025
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  • Ahmed Deeb

    We are deeply honored that DOC NYC selected our film Farfour: A War Diary from Gaza for its world premiere. From the moment we received the acceptance, the entire experience has been exceptional.
    The DOC NYC team demonstrated outstanding professionalism and attention to detail at every stage; from communications and scheduling to technical coordination. The hospitality we received was genuine and generous, making us feel truly welcomed and valued.
    Our screening was met with a packed house and incredibly moving audience engagement. The festival's ability to connect filmmakers with audiences who genuinely care about the stories being told is remarkable.
    Thank you to the entire DOC NYC team for creating a platform where urgent, human stories like ours can be heard. It was an honor to premiere our film at one of the world's most respected documentary festivals.

    With deep gratitude,
    Team of Farfour: A War Diary from Gaza

    December 2025
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