DOCvillage 2025

DOCvillage is an intensive 5-day residency designed to stimulate documentary filmmakers by enhancing their skills, refining their project ideas, and fostering a sense of community. Through interactive (group) sessions, practical exercises, and individual coaching, participants receive the tools and confidence to bring their documentary ideas and visions to life.​

This residency is ideal for documentary filmmakers at various stages of development, from those with a budding concept to those working on a project already in progress. Participants must have produced at least one short documentary, have a strong interest in non-fiction storytelling, and be willing to work on their skills both individually and in groups. DOCvillage is open for short documentary-projects (up to 40 minutes).

On the final day of the residency, participants will pitch their projects to a professional jury, with the chance to win a contribution of €2,000 towards the realization of their project.

Please note: the DOCvillage residency is conducted in English.

Program & practical information

The residency takes place from October 6 to 10 in Sittard, and includes coaching sessions, workshops, masterclasses, and the DOC Industry Day during DOCDAYS 2025.

Coaches for this edition of DOCvillage include John Appel, Martijn Blekendaal and Astrid Bussink. The participation fee (after selection) is €1000 excl. VAT. This includes:

• Full access to the residency program
• Hotel accommodation (incl. breakfast) from Monday to Friday
• Lunch provided on all residency days
• A network dinner hosted by CineSud on one of the days

Partner organisations and open call:

• Partner organisations: filmmakers from Denmark, Norway & Netherlands and Ukraine are eligible to submit via the partner if the film workshop in the region is one of the Screen Talent Europe & Screen Talent NL partners: Filmworkshop Aarhus, Mediefabrikken, CineNord, CineSud, CineZee, Oostpact & House of Europe. Your application will be assessed by your local partner. The participation fee is covered by the partner mentioned above (the program covers workshop, accommodation and catering costs for the selected participants. Travelling may be fully/partially covered by the respective partners ​​up to a limit. For more information about travel costs, please contact your local partner)
• Open call: there are two spots available for an open call for filmmakers from all over the world who are not eligable to apply via a partner mentioned above. 

Applications are open: 

• until Tuesday, July 15 at 12:00 PM via the form below.
• until Tuesday, June 10, 12:00 PM (Deadline for DOCvillage submissions for Ukrainian filmmakers (sponsored by House of Europe))
• until Sunday, June 15, 12:00 PM (Deadline for DOCvillage submissions for Norwegian filmmakers (sponsored by Mediafabrieken))
• until Thursday, June 26, 12:00 PM (Deadline for DOCvillage submissions for Danish filmmakers (sponsored by Filmværksted Aarhus))

I want to join!

To apply, please fill out the form below and upload a pitch file of a maximum of 5 pages (max. 5MB, in PDF format) as an attachment.

Examples of what your pitch file can include:

• A tagline, logline, and synopsis (1 page)
• A motivation/statement (explaining why you want to participate in DOCvillage and what you hope to gain from the experience) (1 page)
• A directorial vision (1 page)
• CVs of yourself and any cast/crew members involved in the project (1 page)
• A mood board or other relevant information (links to previous work are encouraged) (1 page)

Submission deadline: Tuesday, July 15, 12:00 PM.

Meet the coaches!

Wil je de diepere lagen van documentaires en de kunst van het creëren ervan ontdekken? Laat je inspireren en leer van onze coaches tijdens coachingsessies, workshops en masterclasses. 

Contact us.

Do you have any questions or just want to get in touch with us? Contact us by using the contact form below.