ParisDOC, the industry arm of Cinéma du réel (March 21-18 2026), has put out the call for its Works-in-Progress programme, running March 25-26. The deadline for submissions is January 7 2026. The selection announcement will be made mid-February 2026.
“ParisDOC Works-in-Progress actively supports the distribution, promotion and placement of feature documentaries by linking, at a key stage of the production process, project holders (filmmakers and producers) to industry professionals,” organisers write.
The festival is looking for original feature-length documentary projects, currently between final edit and post-production stages, and seeking cinema, TV, VOD, festival, or sales distribution. In Paris, selected projects will have the opportunity to be presented to French and international professionals, who will be able to advise and support them in their distribution and festival opportunities.
One of the selected projects will benefit from post-production support (sound mix or colour grading) from Paris-based Studio Orlando. Additionally, projects selected for ParisDOC Works-in-Progress 2026 will receive free registration for the Directors’ Fortnight 2026 to be considered by the selection committee.
Three experts will mentor the project teams before and during the Works-in-Progress event. These are: Richard Copans – producer, director and cinematographer; Annette Dutertre – editor and director; Antonio Pezzuto – festival programmer.
Projects selected for previous editions of ParisDOC Works-in-Progress include: Imago by Déni Oumar Pitsaev (Œil d’or du meilleur documentaire – Semaine de la Critique 2025); Al oeste, en Zapata by David Bim (Prix FIPRESCI, Prix spécial du jury – Visions du réel 2025); Peaches Goes Bananas! by Marie Losier (Mostra de Venice 2024); Green Line by Sylvie Ballyot (MUBI Award et Prix du Jury Jeune – Festival de Locarno 2024); Guerilla des FARC, l’avenir a une histoire de Pierre Carles (IFFR Rotterdam 2024); Fragments from Heaven by Adnane Baraka (Festival de Locarno 2022); Ghost Song by Nicolas Peduzzi (ACID 2021) and The Earth is Blue as an Orange by Iryna Tsilyk (Sundance 2020).
Comments Festival Director Catherine Bizern: “Over the past 13 years, 80% of the films have been featured in at least one international festival and 70% have been picked up by an international distributor or sales company. Since 2021, the festival has been teaming up with Studio Orlando to provide final-stage support to one of the films from the selection, scope of which has been steadily expanding thanks to international collaborations in connection with the festival’s main line-up.”
Bizern adds of the overall professional offer at Cinéma du reel: “Over the last few years, ParisDOC has broadened the scope of its operations to create a network that engages in discussions and concrete actions in the field of documentary filmmaking, from the development of a project all the way to a film’s distribution. It provides filmmakers, producers, distributors, festival networks and international sales agents with an organization tailored to their needs, offering individual support and dealing with topics relevant to a variety of practices.”
