Camden Film Festival and Al Jazeera Team Up For Short Documentary Contest

For the first time ever, the Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) and Al Jazeera’s digital platform AJ+ have teamed up to commission up to five short documentaries created by filmmakers and journalists. 

At this year’s festival, AJ+ will choose up to five independent filmmakers who will be then be given an opportunity to pitch their short documentary ideas and works-in-progress to a panel. The chosen projects can receive up to $10,000 each. 

These filmmakers will be given an all access pass to CIFF as well as a stipend to support both travel and accommodations throughout the duration of the festival. CIFF and AJ+ are calling for stories that are driven by powerful characters and voices. In addition, projects must have a unique look into events and issues that from around the world. All submissions are required to be current, but not necessarily motivated by current affairs. 

The collaboration between CIFF and AJ+ will look for filmmakers who answer one of the following questions in their projects:

• What are the emergent cultural, political or technological trends that are shaping our lives in surprising ways?

• How are individuals or communities responding to crises that threaten their future in unexpected ways?  

• What does ‘sustainability’ look like?

The deadline to submit is August 25 at midnight. It costs $25 and can be done at the Camden site. CIFF will take place from September 25-28.