Open City Documentary Festival 2027

About Open City Documentary Festival

Founded in 2011, Open City Documentary Festival creates a London space for non-fiction cinema while extending documentary across a wide range of forms. Based in UCL Public Anthropology, its wider activity includes the annual festival, training programmes, the bi-annual Non-Fiction publication and year-round screening projects.

The festival describes its purpose as nurturing experimentation and expanding documentary across film, artists’ moving image, essayistic, audio and cross-media forms. Open City has developed as a meeting point for screenings, discussion, research and practice.

Open City Documentary Festival 2027

Open City Documentary Festival returns to venues across London in April 2027 for its 17th edition. The festival works across an expanded field of non-fiction that includes documentary film, artists’ moving image, essay film, audio and cross-media projects.

The 2027 call is open to international work across contemporary non-fiction forms. Open City’s programming gives particular weight to how a project’s form contributes to contemporary non-fiction practice.

What Can Be Submitted?

The current organiser call covers international contemporary and retrospective non-fiction work across non-fiction film, documentary, artists’ moving image, essay film, audio and cross-media.

The current call can be approached through two main form groups: Non-Fiction Film / Artists’ Moving Image / Essay Film and Audio / Cross-Media.

The current Call for Entries presents these routes with an open runtime framework.

2027 Deadlines and Participation

The early deadline is 25 September 2026 and the effective final deadline is 27 November 2026.

Before submitting, filmmakers should identify the most appropriate form for the work and review the organiser’s current Call for Entries and linked full rules through the official submission route.

Screening Fees and Qualifying Status

Selected filmmakers receive screening fees under the organiser’s published policy.

The current organiser call identifies Open City Documentary Festival as a Section B BAFTA Qualifying Festival for the British Short Film award and a BIFA Qualifying Festival for Best British Short. These credentials describe the festival’s current qualifying status.

Positioning a Project for Open City

Open City is particularly relevant to work whose form contributes to contemporary non-fiction practice across documentary film, artists’ moving image, essay film, audio or cross-media.

AD1 FILM can review how a non-fiction project fits Open City’s expanded programming field and assess positioning and submission materials within a broader festival strategy.