All applicants will be notified of their status through the SFFILM grant platform by mid-November.
How many projects are granted each year?
The Documentary Film Fund grants its support to approximately 3-5 projects each year with grants of $10,000 – $20,000
What types of films does this fund support?
The SFFILM Doc Film Fund supports a range of films from around the world. Films do not have to have a strong social issue and most often do not have that at the center of the film. The fund supports documentaries that exhibit compelling stories, intriguing characters and an innovative visual approach. Recent examples of this include Honeyland, Hale County This Morning, This Evening, Midnight Family, The Feeling of Being Watched, Midnight Traveler, and Cutie and the Boxer.
What should my visual sample include?
We recommend sending 1-2 scenes so that the review committee can get a sense of the story and characters and if it can sustain a feature length film, your access to the central subjects, and the artistic voice and direction of the film. We recommend sending the scene(s) you feel most strongly portray these elements in lieu of a trailer. We understand the scenes will be in progress and do not expect them to be picture locked, color corrected, or finalized in any way.
If you send materials over 10 minutes, we cannot guarantee that the review committee will be able to watch more than the first five minutes of the materials you send. If you do not want the first five minutes to be watched, please include the timecode of the five minutes you would like the committee to watch.
What stage does this fund support?
The SFFILM Doc Film Fund supports feature-length documentaries in post-production. While we know the documentary production process is often nonlinear with various stages happening at the same time, a project must be within about 3 months of beginning post-production from the final deadline.