Enter your film

To be eligible for Docs for Sale 2026, your film or series must: 

• Be a creative documentary completed after September 1, 2025 
• Be fully finished at the time of entry 
• Include an English version (dialogue, voice-over, or subtitles) 
• Be suitable for theatrical release, festival entry, television broadcast, and streaming platforms. 

All entries are reviewed through a selection process. Films selected for IDFA are automatically invited to join Docs for Sale and will be asked to complete a short additional form. 

Docs for Sale welcomes a broad range of creative documentary formats, from journalistic or topic-driven television documentary, formatted aesthetics, and more. When considering your finished film for Docs for Sale entry, keep in mind that the film should fulfill one or more of the following criteria: 

• The film must be technically good, and the form should fit the subject. 
• The film will be relevant for the type of professionals that use Docs for Sale, that is: festivals, including those with niche mandates, broadcast and platform buyers catering to very wide as well as to niche audiences, sales agents, distributors, etc. 
• The film has international appeal and can speak to different territories and audiences. 
• The film is innovative, rethinking formats, presenting new ways to tell wide appeal stories. 

The following is not considered for selection:  

• Genres such as travelogues, and corporate and informational films. 
• Films that promote discrimination. 

A complete application includes: 

• A fully completed entry form 
• A downloadable preview link of your film (preferably a password-protected Vimeo link) 
• The final file of your completed film (entered through upload link after completing the form) 

 Please follow Vimeo's compression guidelines. For films which are not spoken in English, please encode your video using hardcoded English subtitles. 

• Film stills (landscape orientation, with no graphic elements, JPG/JPEG, high resolution, at least 300 DPI or 3 MB) 

For non-English films, please include hardcoded English subtitles. 

If your film is selected for Docs for Sale, it becomes part of the official online catalogue for one year, accessible to accredited industry professionals in a secure viewing environment. During the festival in Amsterdam, your film is also available in on-site screening in the Docs for Sale hub.  

Films selected for IDFA 2026 are automatically eligible for inclusion in the 2026 catalogue. 

Fees apply only if your film is selected for Docs for Sale. 

• Film: €210 (excl. 21% VAT)* 
• Short film: €105 (excl. 21% VAT)* 
• IDFA-selected film: €80 (excl. 21% VAT) 
• Films presented at IDFA Forum: Free of charge 
• Films supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund: Free of charge 
• Films that participated in IDFA Project Space: Free of charge 

*A 20 % fee waiver is available for films where the main producer is from and living in a country on the IDFA Bertha Fund Country List. 

You can enter additional versions of your documentary for an additional fee. This could include, for instance, a TV version of your feature-length film or an additional episode of your series. 

• If selected for Docs for Sale, €27 (excl. 21% VAT) will be added to your invoice per additional version 
• A maximum of two additional versions can be accepted 

If your film is selected, you will receive an invoice with payment instructions. Participation is confirmed once payment has been received. 

By entering your film to Docs for Sale, you confirm that all rights for the films and accompanyting materials (including images) have been cleared for use. This includes  screening, promotion during the IDFA festival, press publications, and inclusion in the online IDFA Collection.  

You also confirm that IDFA may use these materials for agreed purposes and that any related claims from right holders are your responsibility. 

• IDFA reserves the right to disqualify any film with unauthorized inclusion of copyrighted materials.