Open to independent American filmmakers for the financing for new projects as well as works in progress. An amount up to $50,000 may be awarded or distributed in any given year.

Over the past two decades, through a number of open calls, Artangel has invited UK-based artists to share ambitious ideas to transform the cultural landscape. The resulting commissions have been ground-breaking works in performance, film, installation, and radio, each situated in an unexpected place in the UK: beneath a mountain in Scotland; on a much-quarried island off the Dorset coast; at the site of a confrontation in Yorkshire between striking miners and mounted police.

The BFI/Doc Society Fund supports creative and hybrid feature documentaries and short films by diverse creative voices from all over the UK. The fund has three calls a year for feature documentaries, and one for shorts.
 

Catapult Film Fund provides development funding to documentary filmmakerswho have a compelling story to tell, have secured access to their story and are ready to shoot and edit a piece for production fundraising purposes. Our mission is to enable filmmakers to develop their film projects to the next level at a moment where funding is hard to find. We support powerful stories, and moving storytelling, across a broad spectrum of issues and perspectives.

Applications are accepted year-round.

Chicken & Egg Pictures supports women nonfiction filmmakers whose artful and innovative storytelling catalyzes social change. We envision a world in which women filmmakers, representing a range of experiences and backgrounds, are fully supported to realize their artistic goals, build sustainable careers, and achieve parity in all areas of the film industry.

For female filmmakers only.

Cinereach is a film foundation and production company that champions vital stories, artfully told. Cinereach develops, produces, finances, and supports feature-length fiction, nonfiction and hybrid films crafted for the big screen. We look for projects (at any stage) that create deep and lasting impressions through story, character, or cinematic approach. We seek to work with both unknown and established filmmakers who may face creative, financial or systemic obstacles to realizing ambitious visions. Our films range widely in content and style and projects eligible for consideration must be feature-length (over 60 minutes), and intended for theatrical exhibition.

Feature-length (over 60 minutes) only. Applications are accepted year-round.

The Creative England Production Fund supports feature films of all genres, including documentaries, using Lottery funds via BFI.

Doha Film Institute's film funding initiatives offer creative and financial support to filmmakers based in Qatar and around the world, helping them to unlock their artistry, manage their productions effectively and make high-quality films.

The Doc Society Circle is a brand new film fund to support the very best artistic and journalistic films being made by filmmakers globally. It's a fund which complements existing international grantmakers, state funds and broadcast partners for maximum effectiveness.

This fund is currently by invitation only.

Doc Heads exists to support documentary filmmakers in all ways – through our bi-monthly nights, access to events/festivals, discounts, networking opportunities and funding opportunities. Set up in 2009 by four filmmakers as a way of introducing all our filmmaking friends to each other, it’s expanded to become one of the leading organisations in the documentary world.    Every two months, we screen a selection of the latest and best work in the field, and invite filmmakers to join us in an unpretentious evening of drinks and discussion.
 

Film London directly runs several production schemes - supporting local grassroots film-making talent, artists working with the moving image. Award-winning films have been produced through these varied programmes that were all introduced to encourage creativity and develop skills within London-based film-making communities.

Provides various grants for short and feature projects.

Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein supports the production and exhibition of films of all genres and any length, national or international, from the development of the script to the film's screening in the cinema or its broadcast on television.

Applications can be submitted for the following areas:

- Script Funding
- Project Development
- Production Support

Filmmakers Without Borders supports independent filmmakers around the world via grants and other funding initiatives. Supported projects include narrative films, documentary films, and new media projects that align with themes of social justice, empowerment, and cultural exchange. There are three grant cycles throughout each year (Spring/Summer/Fall) and each cycle has its own unique application deadline:

Spring: January 1st
Summer: June 1st
Fall: August 1st

A joint initiative by Skoll Foundation, Ford Foundation and Doc Society, Flex Fund supports innovative and creative projects emerging from partnerships between moving image storytellers and social entrepreneurs.

Flex Fund grants are only available to joint Skoll Foundation and Ford Foundation grantees. 

Every year, the Foundation awards a grant of 10,000 Canadian dollars and a few 5,000 Canadian dollars grants to some filmmakers to assist in the production of a documentary project. The grant is aimed at young video and filmmakers born and living in Africa, Asia or Latin America who want to direct a film in the language of their choice that respects the aims of the Foundation.

Applications by post only by 15th August every year.

Fork Films awards grants to full-length non-fiction films that foster a culture of understanding and work towards a more peaceful and just society, while utilizing powerful and artistic storytelling methods. Specifically they seek films that promote peacebuilding, human rights, and social justice, with a particular emphasis on projects that bring women’s voices to the forefront. Awarded grants generally range from $10,000 to $50,000.

Feature-length (over 70 minutes) only.

Good Pitch brings together documentary filmmakers with foundations, NGOs, campaigners, philanthropists, policymakers, brands and media around leading social and environmental issues - to forge coalitions and campaigns that are good for all these partners, good for the films and good for society. Over a year, the selected filmmaking teams receive sustained mentorship and professional development. This includes two campaign development workshops, taking place right after project selection and again on the eve of the live event.

The Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund with support from AOL Charitable Foundation will provide funding to 6-10 feature-length documentaries that highlight and humanize issues of social importance from around the world. Funded films will be driven by thoughtful and in-depth storytelling, bolstered by a compelling visual approach. More than half of the fund will support projects about women and under-served youth around the globe, and illuminate the ways they are working to improve their communities, their futures, and the world.

Hartley Film Foundation awards grants for compelling character-driven documentaries that illuminate the impact of religions on today's global issues.  The Foundation provides support through seed grants and fiscal sponsorship. The Foundation does not provide production, finishing or outreach grants.

Applications are accepted year-round.

The CrossCurrents Doc Fund is an international production fund that fosters storytelling from within communities whose perspectives have been historically underrepresented or marginalized. Initiated by the R&M Lang Foundation in 2013, the Fund promotes inclusion in the documentary space celebrating all doc forms and the diverse perspectives of storytellers. In particular, it focuses on emerging filmmakers who have a connection to or shared experience with their subject, as well as sharing stories with audiences within and outside the featured community. The fund has two streams - one for Interactive/Short doc projects and one for feature doc projects.

Provides grants for short and feature projects.

In June 2016, Hot Docs and the Rogers Foundation founded the $1-million Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund to support Canadian documentary filmmakers. Over the coming 10 years, production grants will be distributed to Canadian documentary filmmakers. Up to $20,000 will be granted to three or four projects each year.

The Fund is open to Canadian filmmakers only with projects in production.

The Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund helps enable more African documentary filmmakers to tell stories and contribute to a new generation of the African documentary community. The Fund provides development grants of up to 10,000 CAD and production grants of up to $40,000 CAD to four to 10 projects annually. Each year, up to five funded projects are also invited to participate in a year-long mentorship program, along with private filmmaker labs at Hot Docs and the Durban FimMart/Durban International Film Festival.

The IDFA Bertha Fund is designed to stimulate and empower the creative documentary sector in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe by supporting innovative documentary projects by talented filmmakers from these regions.

The Fund provides development, production and distribution grants through two funding schemes. Filmmakers from and living in the mentioned regions can apply for IBF Classic. European co-producers of documentaries from these regions can apply for IBF Europe.

LEF is a private family foundation that funds creative endeavors in California and the New England region. LEF invests in documentary film and video projects that demonstrate excellence in technique, originality of vision and voice, and creativity in form. The strongest proposals will be those that clearly articulate the ways in which the proposed project aligns with the program’s funding criteria. Pre-production, production and post-production funding available.

Feature-length (40 minutes or over) only. Primary creative personnel (director and/or producer) must reside in New England.

The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Photography & Film will award a US$5,000 grant to a single completed “Short-Short” documentary film project. Our grant is open to up-and-coming, independent film makers and directors in all countries. Participant must be committed to the field of reportage and documentary film making.

Short documentary projects (10 - 30 minutes) only.

To promote the screenings of human rights cinema worldwide, Movies that Matter offers grants to human rights film events in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, especially in countries with limited resources and freedom of press. These events can take various forms, such as human rights film festivals, LGBT film festivals, mobile cinema projects, school screenings and grassroots distribution.

Please note that Movies that Matter does not support film production.

Since its launch in 2001, the One World Media Production Fund has supported 175 emerging journalists and filmmakers to report from 69 developing countries. Our fund provides each recipient with a £1,000 grant, one-to-one mentoring, invaluable workshops on sound, editing and post production led by industry experts and introductions to commissioners.

The Pulse Doc Society Genesis Fund is an international film fund supporting the inception of long form feature documentaries driven by imaginative and innovative storytelling.

Fund for Canadian film producers.

The SFFILM Documentary Film Fund (DFF) supports riveting documentaries in post-production distinguished by compelling stories, intriguing characters and an innovative visual approach. Since its launch in 2011, the SFFILM Documentary Film Fund has distributed more than $650,000 to advance new work by filmmakers nationwide.

Various funding opportunites and support for Australian documentaries.

The Shaw Media-Hot Docs Development Fund is a loan program designed to help producers get specific projects developed, researched, written and/or packaged and ready for market. The Fund will provide no-interest loans averaging between $10,000 - $15,000 in the early development stage, when projects are at the highest risk and may have not yet secured a market partner. The Development Fund is expected to support on average 10 to 12 projects per year.

The Sundance Documentary Film Program supports non-fiction filmmakers worldwide in the production of cinematic documentaries on contemporary themes. Established in 2002 with founding support from Open Society Foundations, the Program is a vibrant global resource for independent non-fiction storytelling. Recent projects include Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look of Silence, Laura Poitras' CITIZENFOUR, Nanfu Wang's Hooligan Sparrow, Sabaah Jordan and Damon Davis' Whose Streets?, Kirsten Johnson's Cameraperson, Kitty Green's Casting JonBenet, and Raoul Peck's I Am Not Your Negro.

Applications are accepted year-round.

The Documentary Company is an Enterprise Investment Scheme fund that will produce and co-finance new relevant topical Feature and TV documentaries with universal resonance, that cross cultural boundaries and exploit worldwide markets. The Documentary Company focuses primarily on documentary films from one or more of the following narrative categories: Human Interest, Politics, Music, and Nature and the Environment.

Applications are accepted year-round.

The Edinburgh Pitch is the only international documentary pitching forum in Scotland. It is aimed at independent filmmakers and companies developing and raising finance for creative feature documentaries and considering international co-productions.

The Fledgling Fund offers grants to support outreach and engagement for social issue documentary film projects that have the potential to inspire positive social change around issues that affect the most vulnerable.

Applications are accepted year-round.

The Ford Foundation seeks to reduce inequality in all of its forms, and artist-driven documentary and emerging media projects are crucial to this effort. As part of the Creativity and Free Expression program, JustFilms funds social justice storytelling and the 21st-century arts infrastructure that supports it. The projects and people we support inspire imaginations, disrupt stereotypes, and help transform the conditions that perpetuate injustice and inequality.

Applications are accepted year-round.

IFP’s Fiscal Sponsorship program focuses exclusively on documentary films and other works of nonfiction, short films and low-budget fiction/narrative features (50 minutes+).

Many individuals, foundations, corporations, or government organizations restrict funding of independent projects to tax-exempt organizations. IFP’s Fiscal Sponsorship programme is a legal and financial mechanism by which IFP, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, serves as a conduit for financial resources, and provides some support and oversight for independently produced film projects.

Applications are accepted year-round.

The Jerome Foundation’s Film and Video Grant Program is a production grant program for individual film and video artists who work in the genres of experimental, narrative, animation, and documentary production. Please note it does not support installation, new media, or interactive work, which are subsidized in other Foundation programs. It also does not support commercial, industrial, informational, or educational work. 

Applicants must reside in one of the five boroughs of New York City and Minnesota and must be emerging artists whose work shows promise of excellence. 

The Miller / Packan Film Fund supports documentaries that Educate, Inspire and Enrich. The Fund is financed through the Rogovy Foundation. We believe in the transformational power that comes from enlightening narratives and inspiring characters.

The Threshold Foundation looks to support documentaries that address the most important issues facing the world using a plan of action that is powerful, innovative, and unexpected.

Applications are by invitation only and Doc Society will make recommendations to Threshold Foundations Funding Circle who will make all final grant-making decisions.

Grants and guidance to support exceptional character-driven, nonfiction works that spotlight contemporary themes with an original focus and bold, creative filmmaking. The TFI Documentary Fund supports feature documentaries, from all over the world, that are in advanced stages of development or in production or post-production. Grant amounts range from $25,000 - $50,000. The TFI/ESPN Prize and TFI/A+E Feature Doc Workshop are a grant and initiative, respectively, within the fund.

The fund supports film productions from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe, aims at making them visible worldwide and guarantees their distribution in Switzerland. In case a project is being supported, all rights for Switzerland are automatically transfered to visions sud est.

We help develop broadcast and film entertainment that explores the human condition. Our productions ask big questions that are stimulated by biomedical research. We want to reach people who aren't usually interested in traditional science programmes. We support factual and drama projects. The factual programmes and feature documentaries are funded through their Public Engagement Fund. 

Funding talent in authored documentary through Alan Whicker's legacy. Our annual Film & TV Funding Award grants £80,000 to an emerging filmmaker with the most promising pitch for an authored documentary. The project must fulfil the core criteria of the foundation and be completed for screening with a year. This award will enable a first-time feature-length director to realise an original and innovative story that they are in the unique position to tell. A second award of £15,000 will be granted to contribute to a film fund for a runner-up in this category.

The Women In Film Finishing Fund gives grants to filmmakers working in both short and long formats, in all genres — narrative, documentary, animated and experimental. To apply for the Finishing Fund, the filmmaker must have completed 90% of principal photography and have a rough cut at the time of application. You do not have to be a Women In Film member to apply, and we encourage applications from around the world. Please note that student projects are not eligible to receive Finishing Funds for their film.

Provides grants for short and feature projects.

Together with the Federal Foundation for Culture and in cooperation with the Goethe Institute, the Foreign Ministry and German producers, the World Cinema Fund works to develop and support cinema in regions with a weak film infrastructure, while fostering cultural diversity in German cinemas. The World Cinema Fund supports films that could not be made without additional funding: films that stand out with an unconventional aesthetic approach, that tell powerful stories and transmit an authentic image of their cultural roots.

The World Cinema Fund supports exclusively the production and distribution of feature films and feature-length documentaries. The support is focused on the following regions and countries: Latin America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caucasus as well as Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia and Sri Lanka.

Feature-length only.

WorldView is a CBA [Commonwealth Broadcasting Association] Project that aims to improve UK public understanding and awareness of the developing world via the mainstream broadcast and digital media. They have three funds available, The Multimedia Fund, New Genres Fund, and Project Development Fund.