The organisers of Encounters, Africa’s home of documentaries, are calling for feature, mid-length, and short documentary film entries for the 2023 edition of the Festival.
After shifting platforms due to the pandemic in recent years, Encounters returns to cinemas and online to celebrate its 25th anniversary from 22 June to 2 July.
The Festival’s audience and reach has continued to transform throughout the decades, but the programming of exceptional documentaries from around the world remains the same.
Since its inception in 1999, Encounters has offered South African film lovers a well-curated line-up of the most important documentaries globally. Encounters’ aim is to present films that entertain, engage, and inspire; and achieves this with the selection of documentaries spanning a wide array of themes for diverse local audiences.
The programme features award-winning and award-nominated films, ‘best of the fests’, and the most-talked-about documentaries of the year. Encounters prides itself on discovering new works by documentary masters and emerging talent from South Africa and the broader African region.
Encounters has grown its offering of jury award prizes and provides extensive media coverage as well as opportunity to engage with audiences in the main theatres and in the townships through the Outreach programme.
The Festival invites filmmakers to submit their recent films to celebrate 25 years of creative documentary in South Africa. The programmers are looking for films that resonate with diverse audiences, encompassing themes of social justice, politics, arts and culture, technology, current affairs, personal stories, health, environmental and many more.
Submissions can be made via the links below found on the Festival website:
SA/ African Entries : https://www.encounters.co.za/submit-african-documentary/
SA/African film submissions are exempt from paying a submission fee.
International Entries : https://www.encounters.co.za/submit-international-documentary/
A nominal submission fee of USD15 is charged for international entries.
Please note, we will consider works in progress / rough cuts if your film will be ready in time for the Festival itself (22 June – 2 July 2023).
The deadline for submissions is Friday 10th March 2023 (11.59PM SAST)