Organisers of the Grierson Awards, also known at the British Documentary Awards, have underlined the June 1 deadline for this year’s submissions. Established in 1972, “the awards recognise and celebrate documentaries from Britain and abroad that have made a significant contribution to the genre and that demonstrate quality, integrity, creativity, originality and overall excellence.”
Although the Grierson Awards are also known as the British Documentary Awards, international productions are welcome to enter. The key criterion for the awards is that the film or programme has been made available to a UK audience. International productions are therefore eligible to enter, organisers further underline.
The Awards commemorate the pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson (1898 – 1972), famous for Drifters and Night Mail and the man widely regarded as the father of documentary.
The qualifying period ranges from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2023 and the 2023 timetable is as follows:
- Entries close Thursday, 1 June
- Shortlist Announced, 20 July
- Nominations Announced, 19 September
- Awards Ceremony, 9 November, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Awards are given in the following categories:
- Best Single Documentary – International
- Best Single Documentary – Domestic
- Best Current Affairs Documentary
- Best Arts Documentary
- Best Music Documentary
- Best Sports Documentary
- Best History Documentary
- Best Science Documentary
- Best Natural History or Environmental Documentary
- Best Entertaining Documentary
- Best Constructed or Formatted Documentary Series
- Best Documentary Series
- Best Cinema Documentary
- Best Student Documentary
- Best Documentary Short
- Best Documentary Presenter
- Grierson Hero of the Year Award
- Grierson Trustees’ Award
All entries must have had their first UK screening between 1 June 2022 and 31 May 2023. This includes television broadcast, scheduled screenings and screenings within recognised film, television and documentary festivals, theatrical releases and entries will be accepted which have screened on digital platforms only – e.g. Netflix, iPlayer, Prime Video – as long as the screening was accessible by a UK-based audience. Screenings at Universities and Colleges are also acceptable for the Best Student Documentary category.
Judging process
The Grierson Awards employ a two-stage judging process. Every entry will be reviewed by a minimum of three members of, or advisors to, The Grierson Trust. From the whole entry a shortlist of eight from each category will be drawn up; then these shortlisted films or presenters will be judged by juries comprising five people, mainly drawn from documentary makers, broadcasters and subject experts. They will decide on the final four nominations, including the winner, in each category.
