Documentary film festivals are film festivals devoted solely to documentary film, which is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality.
Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video or made for a television series. Documentary, as it applies here, works to identify a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries.[1]
In many cities around the world, documentary film festivals are held annually to showcase documentaries made that year. Many of them are theme or genre specific.
| Name
|
Est.
|
City
|
Country
|
| 10 Under 10 Film Festival
|
2002
|
Austin, Texas
|
 United States
|
| Academia Film Olomouc
|
1966[2]
|
Olomouc
|
 Czech Republic
|
| AFI Docs
|
2003
|
Washington, D.C.
|
United States
|
| Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival
|
2018
|
Sarajevo
|
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
| Ambulante Documentary Film Festival
|
2006
|
Mexico
|
 Mexico
|
| Atlanta DocuFest
|
2005
|
Atlanta, Georgia
|
United States
|
| Belleville Downtown DocFest
|
2010
|
Belleville, Ontario
|
 Canada
|
| Berlin Documentary Forum
|
2010
|
Berlin
|
 Germany
|
| Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
|
2003
|
Missoula, Montana
|
United States
|
| Camden International Film Festival
|
2005
|
Camden, Maine
|
United States
|
| Chagrin Documentary Film Festival
|
2010
|
Chagrin Falls, Ohio
|
United States
|
| Chicago International Documentary Festival
|
2003
|
Chicago, Illinois
|
United States
|
| China Screen
|
2007
|
Paris
|
 France
|
| Cine Pobre Film Festival
|
2002
|
La Paz, Baja California Sur
|
Mexico
|
| Cinéma du Réel
|
1978
|
Paris
|
France
|
| Copenhagen International Documentary Festival - CPH:DOX
|
2003
|
Copenhagen
|
 Denmark
|
| Development Film Festival
|
2005
|
Chennai
|
 India
|
| DMZ International Documentary Film Festival
|
2009
|
Gyeonggi-do
|
 South Korea
|
| Doc LA - Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival
|
2010
|
Los Angeles, California
|
United States
|
| Doc NYC
|
2010
|
New York City
|
United States
|
| Docaviv International Film Festival
|
1998
|
Tel Aviv
|
 Israel
|
| Dockanema
|
2006
|
Maputo
|
 Mozambique
|
| Doclisboa
|
2003
|
Lisbon
|
 Portugal
|
| Documentary Edge Festival
|
2005
|
Auckland and Wellington
|
 New Zealand
|
| Docville
|
2005
|
Leuven
|
 Belgium
|
| Dok Leipzig
|
1955
|
Leipzig
|
Germany
|
| Dokufest
|
2001
|
Prizren
|
 Kosovo
|
| DORF
|
2007
|
Vinkovci
|
 Croatia
|
| Dox Box
|
2008
|
Damascus
|
 Syria
|
| DOXA Documentary Film Festival
|
1998
|
Vancouver
|
Canada
|
| EBS International Documentary Festival
|
2004
|
Seoul
|
South Korea
|
| Encounters Festival South Africa
|
1999
|
Cape Town and Johannesburg
|
 South Africa
|
| Encuentros del Otro Cine EDOC
|
2002
|
Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Manta, Ibarra, Portoviejo
|
 Ecuador
|
| Flashpoint Human Rights Film Festival
|
2010
|
Mumbai
|
India
|
| Freedom Film Fest
|
2003
|
Malaysia
|
 Malaysia
|
| Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
|
1998
|
Durham, North Carolina
|
United States
|
| Gimme Some Truth Documentary Festival
|
2008
|
Winnipeg, Manitoba
|
Canada
|
| Gran Paradiso Film Festival
|
1984
|
Cogne
|
 Italy
|
| Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival
|
2003
|
Guangdong
|
 China
|
| Guelph Film Festival
|
1984
|
Guelph, Ontario
|
Canada
|
| Hádoc
|
2012
|
Leiria
|
Portugal
|
| Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
|
1993
|
Toronto
|
Canada
|
| Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
|
1992
|
Hot Springs, Arkansas
|
United States
|
| Imagine International Film Festival
|
2004
|
Clearwater, Florida
|
United States
|
| International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
|
1988
|
Amsterdam
|
 Netherlands
|
| International Wildlife Film Festival
|
1977
|
Missoula, Montana
|
United States
|
| Io Isabella International Film Week
|
2005
|
|
Italy
|
| Jeevika: Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival
|
2003
|
New Delhi
|
India
|
| Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival
|
1997
|
Jihlava
|
Czech Republic
|
| Junction North International Documentary Film Festival
|
2013
|
Sudbury, Ontario
|
Canada
|
| Krakow Film Festival
|
1961
|
Kraków
|
 Kraków
|
| London International Documentary Festival
|
2007
|
London
|
 United Kingdom
|
| Marda Loop Justice Film Festival
|
2006
|
Calgary, Alberta
|
Canada
|
| Margaret Mead Film Festival
|
1977
|
New York City
|
United States
|
| Marseille Festival of Documentary Film
|
1989
|
Marseille
|
France
|
| Millennium Docs Against Gravity
|
2004
|
Warsaw
|
Poland
|
| Montreal International Documentary Festival
|
1998
|
Montreal
|
Canada
|
| New Haven Documentary Film Festival
|
2014
|
New Haven, Connecticut
|
United States
|
| New Media Film Festival
|
2009
|
Los Angeles, California
|
United States
|
| New Orleans Film Festival
|
1989
|
New Orleans, Louisiana
|
United States
|
| Northwestfest
|
1983
|
Edmonton, Alberta
|
Canada
|
| Open City Documentary Festival
|
2011
|
London
|
United Kingdom
|
| One World Film Festival
|
1999
|
Prague
|
Czech Republic
|
| Portland Documentary and Experimental Film Festival
|
2001
|
Portland, Oregon
|
United States
|
| Portland Film Festival
|
2013
|
Portland, Oregon
|
United States
|
| Pravo Ljudski Film Festival
|
2006
|
Sarajevo
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
| Punto de Vista. International Documentary Film Festival of Navarra
|
2005
|
Pamplona
|
 Spain
|
| Sheffield Doc/Fest
|
1994
|
Sheffield
|
United Kingdom
|
| San Francisco Documentary Festival
|
2001
|
San Francisco, CA
|
United States
|
| DOCUTAH International Documentary Film Festival
|
2010
|
Utah
|
United States
|
| Taiwan International Documentary Festival
|
1998
|
Taipei
|
 Taiwan
|
| Telluride Mountainfilm
|
1979
|
Telluride, Colorado
|
United States
|
| Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
|
1999
|
Thessaloniki
|
 Greece
|
| True/False Film Festival
|
2004
|
Columbia, Missouri
|
United States
|
| United Nations Association Film Festival
|
1998
|
Palo Alto, CA
|
United States
|
| ViBGYOR International Film Festival
|
2006
|
Thrissur
|
India
|
| Visions du réel
|
1969
|
Nyon
|
 Switzerland
|
| VIVA Film Festival
|
2015
|
Sarajevo
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
| Wakefield Documentary Film Festival
|
2005[3]
|
Wakefield, Quebec
|
Canada
|
| World Community Film Festival
|
1990
|
Courtenay, Duncan, Kelowna and Nanaimo, British Columbia
|
Canada
|
| Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
|
1989
|
Yamagata
|
 Japan
|
| Yogyakarta Documentary Film Festival
|
2002
|
Yogyakarta
|
 Indonesia
|
| ZagrebDox
|
2005
|
Zagreb
|
Croatia
|
