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Documentary Film Grants
for Independent Filmmakers

Documentary film grants are available for almost every topic imaginable including health care, human rights, environmental issues and education.

Grants can be an excellent source of funding for your documentary project.

Each film grant has its own requirements and application process, so make sure you fully understand the purpose and mission of each grant.

Benefits of a documentary film grant:

This money is a “gift”, so you do not have the burden of paying the money back.

Grants often come in larger amounts of money, so it eliminates fundraising in small increments

Provides a boost of publicity when the grant is announced

Provides credibility for your project.

Disadvantages of a documentary film grant:

Time consuming to research each grant to find the ones that match your niche or topic

Time consuming to fill out the paperwork

Wait times to hear grant results can be excruciating

High level of competition, so the more experienced filmmakers will often win out

The Foundation Center

One of the best places to begin your search for grant funding is the Foundation Center.

The Foundation Center, a 501©3 non-profit, has five learning centers across the United States and they maintain a database on nearly 100,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities in the U.S. You can find out who is receiving funding and why. You can do some basic research for free, but there’s a modest fee to access their online database (starting at $19.95) and they have tons of free training and webinars.

They have an incredible archive of videos, podcasts and articles about film/video funding. The Foundation Center Grant Space Knowledge Center.

Film Grants Database

Do you have a film grant or know of other funding sources for documentaries? Please create your own grant page here as part of our complimentary online database listing service or browse through all the grants below.

Post Your Documentary Film Grant

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Documentary Film Grants Available

Click below to see more documentary film grants..

Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund | Documentary Film Grant The Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund provides annual production grants totaling $75,000 to be used in the creation of original, independent documentary films ...

Humane Society | ACE Documentary Film Grant The Humane Society of the United States is once again presenting the Animal Content in Entertainment (ACE) Documentary Film Grant. Launched in 2006, the ...

Roy W. Dean Film and Video Grants | Documentary Film Grant The Roy W. Dean Film and Video Grants is managed by Carol Dean and From The Heart Productions. "I want great stories with compelling characters. We fund ...

Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation | Documentary Film Grants The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation is a UK-based non-profit dedicated to reinventing funding and distribution models for documentary filmmakers. The mission ...

Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media | Documentary Film Grant Named to honor singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson, the Funding Exchange supports media activism and grassroots organizing by funding ...

Southern Documentary Fund | Documentary Film Grant Funding Stories are at the heart of the work of the Southern Documentary Fund. Stories that come from the varied landscapes of the American South -- its people,...

TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund seeks exceptional narrative features at any stage from treatment to completed film that are scientifically relevant, accurate,...

Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund The Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund provides finishing funds to feature-length documentaries which highlight and humanize issues of social importance from ...

Tribeca Film Institute Documentary Fund The TFI Documentary Fund, Presented by HBO, provides grants and guidance to exceptional filmmakers developing engaging feature-length documentaries which ...

Sundance Institute | Documentary Fund Grant The Sundance Institute Documentary Fund provides support for U.S. and international documentary films that focus on current human rights issues, freedom ...

Austin Film Society Film Grants Once a year, the Austin Film Society (AFS) awards grants to emerging film and video artists in the state of Texas through our Texas Filmmakers' Production ...

Women In Film | Film Finishing Fund Grant (WIFF FFF) The Women In Film Foundation's Film Finishing Fund (WIFF FFF) supports films by, for or about women by providing cash grants of up to $15,000 and in-kind ...

MacArthur Foundation | Documentary Grant MacArthur's goal in media grantmaking is to provide the public with high-quality, professionally-produced documentary films, deep and analytical journalism,...

Pacific Pioneer Fund | Documentary Film Grant The mission of this film grant is to support emerging documentary filmmakers. The term "emerging" is intended to denote a person committed to the craft ...

The Independent Television Service (ITVS) | Documentary and Television Funding ITVS funds, distributes, and promotes new programs primarily for public television. We work with independent producers to create and present programs that ...