List of the Best Documentary Grants to Fund Your Film

Vision Maker Media funds Native American and Alaska Native media at all stages of development.

Redford Center Grants supports environmental filmmakers and frontline stories that drive solutions for people and the planet, providing the hope necessary for audiences to feel ready to engage in addressing our environmental crises.

The Library of Congress Lavine Ken Burns Prize for Film is a $200,000 cash award for a late-stage documentary film with a running time of 50 minutes or more.

The SFFILM Documentary Film Fund (DFF) supports engaging documentaries in post-production which exhibit compelling stories, intriguing characters, and an original, innovative visual approach.

The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (DFP) prioritizes support for independent nonfiction films with budgets under $1,000,000 USD.

Grants are offered to independent artists who are working at the intersection of science and nonfiction storytelling. The partnership identifies and supports nonfiction projects that inspire a deeper interest in science, especially among those who don’t think of themselves as science enthusiasts.

Hot Docs and the Rogers Foundation founded the $1-million Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund to support Canadian documentary projects.

The World Cinema Fund supports exclusively the production and distribution of feature films and feature-length documentaries. Supports 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.

The Film & TV Funding Award is awarded annually to an emerging filmmaker from anywhere in the world with the most promising pitch for a director-led documentary.

The Points North Fellowship early- and mid-career filmmakers to Maine to accelerate the development of their feature documentary.

We seek non-fiction stories celebrating adventure, activism, social justice, culture, environment and indomitable spirit. 

The IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund supports in-depth explorations of original, contemporary stories that integrate journalistic practice into the filmmaking process.

The Hot Docs-Blue Ice Docs Fund invests in African documentary filmmakers to tell their stories and contribute to the next generation of African documentary talent. 

Filmmakers Without Borders supports independent filmmakers around the world via grants and other funding initiatives.

We accept all documentaries, essays and experimental films that reflect a diversity of genres and different forms of cinematic approaches. 

Diversity Development Fund gives producers of color up to $25,000 in research and development funding so you can develop your documentary for public media.

The CrossCurrents Fund is an international fund for filmmakers who are members of or have a deep connection to the underrepresented and marginalized community.

AMA gives grants to artists and arts professionals (curators, cultural operators and journalists) of all artistic disciplines who live and work in Africa, to travel within the African continent.

Creative Capital fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, film, technology and socially-engaged work in all forms.

The Climate Story Fund supports compelling storytelling and impact campaigns from around the world that move us closer to a climate just and biodiverse future.

We provide development funding, up to $20,000, to documentary filmmakers who have a strong story to tell, have secured access, and are ready to create a fundraising piece to help unlock critical production funding.

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. 

The Miller / Packan Film Fund supports documentaries that Educate, Inspire and Enrich. The Fund is financed through the Rogovy Foundation.

Roy W Dean Film Grants fund independent feature films, documentaries, web series, and short films with budgets of $500,000 or less that are unique and make a contribution to society.

The New Filmmaker Program loans digital camera packages (based on availability) to filmmakers for student thesis films and low-budget independent features.

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.

The IDFA Bertha Fund is the only fund in the world dedicated solely to stimulating and empowering the creative documentary sector in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania.

The Frameline Completion Fund provides grants to emerging and established filmmakers. This program seeks to provide a much-needed source of financial contributions to artists who often struggle to secure funding to complete their works.

The Foundation awards a grant aimed at young 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.