Young Documentarian Competition

Show your stories

A global documentary filmmaking competition for college and high school students.
Top entrants will be in the running for scholarship prizes, filmmaking equipment, and professional mentorship.

Submissions for 2023 have been closed, we look forward to seeing you next year!

See Results for 2023

Competition rules

  • Entry is free.
  • Submissions must be of documentaries.
  • All entrants must be enrolled within a secondary school between the grades from and inclusive of 1-12 in Australia OR internationally.
  • Film length: 3 - 7 minutes is suggested with a maximum of 15 minutes, including credits.
  • Film may be in any language or have no dialogue at all. Important Non-English audio must have English subtitles.
  • All content used must be appropriate and abide by all copyright laws(footage, music, sound effects, etc).

Judging Criteria

Documentaries will be judged in comparison to other submissions in the below six categories:

  • Creativity
  • Story/Plot
  • Cinematography
  • Sound
  • Editing
  • Overall quality of production

Prizes

  • 1st place: 1000$ AUD
  • 2nd and 3rd place: 500$ AUD
  • 4th place: 100$ AUD

In addition to scholarship prizes, top 3 winners will receive a Doc-Maker level membership with the International Documentary Association - our generous partner. With over 40 years of history, the IDA(based in LA) has dedicated tremendous efforts in expanding the impact, scope and reach of the documentary genre. For the benefits of said membership, please visit https://www.documentary.org/news/user/content/membership

Interested in participating? Fill out the form below!