The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival closed on July 8, with the Best Documentary Award going to Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle, by Gustavo Salmerón. This award represents a great start on the documentary festival circuit, serving as the film’s international, world, and European premiere. This took place at nothing less than an A-list festival of international prestige.
This award should help with participation in other festivals, as programmers, sales agents, and distributors use it as a reference, and it can greatly facilitate its international run, not just in festivals.
What would be the trajectory of a documentary film that has already premiered? How to plan a strategy for specialized festivals when we already have a premiere date?
This success for a Spanish documentary is a good excuse to review the festival calendar and see the best options for its festival run only in those festivals specialized in documentaries. There are other more generalist festivals where it could participate, but I have not taken them into account.
Let’s assume that the producers have placed a bet on this festival, whose final submission deadline ended on March 31 and which is held in early July. This date defines our distribution strategy, as we can only submit to festivals taking place from mid-July onwards to preserve the international premiere. In the documentary section of Karlovy Vary, there is only a requirement for an international and European premiere, but in this case, it was the world premiere.
Let’s review the documentary festival calendar to establish an initial distribution strategy. We would have to start working very early, with festivals having a deadline in March.
Deadline in March
We could submit to DocLisboa, taking advantage of its early deadline with a reduced price of €7 and reserving the Portuguese premiere. It is a very suitable festival in terms of dates, as it is held from October 19 to 29.
In Canada, we already have to rule out the Montreal World Film Festival, which requires an international premiere, but we would have the RIDM, Montreal International Documentary Festival, whose submission period closed on May 31, but whose early deadline was last March 15 with a price of 40 CAD. It is held from November 9 to 19.
We also have the option of premiering at Hotdocs, but it is held from April 26 to May 6, 2018. The first submission deadline ends on November 16, so it might be too long a wait. According to our calendar, I think it is better to bet on RIDM as the first option.
Deadline in April
In the case of the United States, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, held from October 6 to 15, also suits us very well. The regular deadline was last April 19 with a price of $60 for feature films over 40 minutes.
We could also consider DOCNYC, which is held from November 9 to 16. The early deadline was March 3, and the regular one was April 7, with a price of $65. Although the minimum requirement is a New York City premiere, it would be good to maintain the US premiere.
Deadline in May
With the May deadline, we find the Mexico City Documentary Film Festival, DocsMX (formerly known as DocsDF), whose submission deadline was May 31, and it is free. It is held from October 12 to 21.
There are two French festivals worth considering at these submission closing dates: the La Rochelle festival, organized by the Escales Documentaire association and held from November 7 to 12, and Les États Généraux du Documentaire de Lussas, whose final submission deadline was May 17. It is held from August 20 to 26.
In the case of Cinéma du Réel, it requires a French premiere and is a bit far off on the calendar. The final submission deadline is December 22. Although in our case it would be October 3, since the film was completed before August 31. It is held from March 23 to April 1, 2018, so it is not really worth waiting that long.
Deadline in June
We could plan for Filmer à Tout Prix in Brussels, which closed on June 15 and is held from November 23 to December 2. In Poland, we have two options whose deadline is also in June: the Szczecin European Film Festival, held from October 19 to 23, and OFF CINEMA, which takes place from October 18 to 22.
We can also submit to the Popoli Documentary Film Festival, held in Florence, which requires an Italian premiere; the submission deadline closed on June 1 for films produced up to May 31. They have a fee of €10 and it is held from October 10 to 17.
Deadline in July
In this month of July, we could consider FIDOCS, the Santiago Documentary Festival, for the Chilean premiere, which closes on July 24 and is held in November. Another option is the Iran Documentary Film Festival, whose late deadline is July 31 and is held from December 10 to 17.
This month has its final deadline with Dok Leipzig; although it is advisable to reserve the world and European premiere, its main requirement is the German premiere, and its final deadline was last July 7. It is held from October 30 to November 5.
Deadline in August
To conclude this review of documentary festivals, we could submit to the Guangzhou Documentary Film Festival in China, whose deadline is August 30. It is held from December 12 to 15.
Festivals in Spain
One of the best options for the film is the documentary competition at Seminci, which requires a Spanish premiere and is held from October 21 to 28. Betting on festivals in the last half of the year can help the run toward the Goya Awards in February 2018. Therefore, it is not really worth waiting for other documentary festivals such as Punto de Vista, PlayDoc, Documenta Madrid, and DocsBarcelona.
Summarizing the documentary festival strategy
As we can see, it is very important to start working on distribution early, studying the calendar carefully and looking at the different options.
To see the calendar more clearly, I have prepared an infographic with the chronological order of festivals where the film could participate.
I hope this serves as a reference if you are starting to distribute a feature-length documentary. You can comment below.
