FIPADOC organisers have put out a call for submissions for the festival’s 8th edition running January 23 to 31 2026.
The gathering will again comprise a selection of 180 documentary films in Biarritz, with the Smart venue again offering free public access to the best of French and international XR works. This year’s spotlight will be on the Iberian Peninsula: Spain and Portugal.
Deadlines for entries are:
- September 26 2025, for films eligible to non-competitive selection or the Francophone Panorama selection (already broadcasted on TV or released in cinemas)
- October 6 2025, for new films eligible to Grand Prix competitions and other competitive selections
- Medium length films (between 20 and 50 minutes long) are not eligible to Fipadoc (except for school films)
FIPADOC & FIPADOC Pro 2025
At the close of Fipadoc 2025, the Grand Prix for International Documentary was awarded to the Oscar-nominated Black Box Diaries by Shiori Itô, while the Grand Prix for French Documentary went to Bosco Grande by Giuseppe Schillaci.
In Fipadoc Pro, the Best International Pitch Award went to Yugo Goes to America by Filip Grujič & Aleksa Borković, while Lucas Vernier won the Best French Pitch Award for Seven and One.
“Fipadoc likes to consider itself a citizen’s festival. In these times of upheaval, we want it to be a place for lively discussions that foster democracy, for otherness that seals the social contract, and for culture that softens the brutality of day-to-day life,” festival director Christine Camdessus underlined before the event.
Fipadoc Pro presented a programme of more than 50 panels, roundtables and masterclasses for the near-2500 accredited attendees, as well as core pitching sessions of brand-new French and international projects.
“We’re the main event [in France] dedicated to documentary, which is actually both a festival and an industry event,” Head of Industry Bastien Gauclère told BDE before his event.
“We are first and foremost a festival with an industry event that is quite the same size, but gathering many, many more directors. Which means the discussions you’re going to have at Fipadoc and during the Industry Days are much more driven by creation, narration, co-production.”
