Upcoming Funding and Festival Submission Deadlines for Film Artists

Arts Council Funding for Film 2025

Full Funding Opportunities Schedule HERE

Film Bursary Award – The award supports professional individual artists at any stage of their career working in the field of experimental or non-narrative film making to develop their arts practice. Application Deadline: 20th February 2025.

ilDÁNA – ilDÁNA is designed to enhance the TG4 schedule by supporting the making of ambitious and cinematic long-form documentaries on the arts in Irish. Application Deadline: 21st February 2025

Arts Grant Funding – Arts Grant Funding will be awarded to organisations and individuals to carry out a series of activities taking place from either January – December 2026, or January 2026 – December 2027. Application Deadline: 13th March 2025.

PLEASE CONFIRM ALL DEADLINES AND GUIDELINES ETC ON THE FILM SECTION OF ARTS COUNCIL WEBSITE AS THEY ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

Festival Submissions/Grants/Bursaries & Residencies

We advise film artists to take time to carefully read the supplied guidelines and ensure that you are eligible for any of the listed festival submissions/grants/bursaries and residencies below; before you begin planning and writing. We also ask film artists to pay particular attention to the deadlines and closing times for any submissions listed on the funders website.

Fingal County Council: Fingal Artists’ Support Scheme The closing date for applications is Friday 21st February 2025, at 4pm. Submission must be made online through the Submit platform accessible by visiting fingal.ie

The Collision Project an initiative by screen service that facilitates collaborative pairings between early career artists Deadline Friday 21st February 2025

Film Programme call for entries for Sheffield DocFest 2025 is now open – Late Deadline February 28th 2025

The Winnipeg Underground Film Festival Deadline February 28th 2025

Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival Deadline February 28th 2025

Vancouver Queer Film Festival Deadline February 28th 2025

Underneath the Floorboards:showcase open to artists and filmmakers from all around the world whose work has an experimental, non-linear narrative form. Deadline March 1st 2025

NXTHVN 2025-2026 Studio and Curatorial Fellowships Application, CT, USA. Deadline: March 3 2025

GAZE, Ireland’s International LGBTQIA Film Festival Early Deadline December 20th 2024, Standard Deadline: February 21st 2025, Late Deadline: March 14th 2025

Union Docs Summer Documentary Lab, NY, USA. Early Deadline: March 16th 2025

(EXiS) 22nd Experimental Film and Video Festival in Seoul Deadline March 23rd 2025

The first edition of Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival’s New Cinema Forum Due to limited capacity, please reserve a spot to join on Thursday 27th March 2025

Queer Spectrum Film Festival (QSFF): a groundbreaking event in Ireland’s cultural landscape, proudly recognized as the country’s first film festival dedicated to amplifying the voices of LGBTQIA+ individuals of colour and immigrants from around the world. Deadline: Friday 28th March 2025

Slow Film Festival Earlybird Deadline: 19th February, First Deadline 19th March, Second Deadline 22nd April, Third Deadline 20th May and Final Deadline July 1st 2025

Galway Film Fleadh 2025 Regular deadline: Monday February 10th, 2025, at 11:59p.m. G.M.T. €40 entry fee. Late deadline for International Features: Monday March 10th, 2025, at 11:59p.m. G.M.T. €50 entry fee. Late deadline for Irish Features: Friday April 4th, 2025, at 11:59p.m. G.M.T. €50 entry fee

BlackStar Film Festival: an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from around the world – Regular Deadline March 1st, Late Deadline April 1st

Individual Artist Support from University of Atypical
The D/deaf and Disabled Artists Support Fund is an Arts Council of Northern Ireland funded opportunity that allows artists in Northern Ireland to buy time to be creative, to support the development or production of new contemporary artwork, or for activity to develop existing skills or gain a new type of experience. The University of Atypical is providing advice sessions to artists who wish to apply to a range of funding opportunities available through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. You can arrange an advice session by emailing access@universityofatypical.org or calling 028 902 394 50. Applications and advice sessions open Monday 3 March at 10am, and close Thursday 10 April at 4pm

Folkestone Documentary Festival Early bird Deadline: March 9th, Regular Deadline April 1st, Late Deadline May 5th

Arts and Disability Connect Round One 2025 Opens: Monday 24 March, Deadline: Wednesday 7 May at 4pm, Come and Ask Questions session via Zoom: Wednesday 9 April at 12 noon

Submissions for the 70th Cork International Film Festival are now open – Friday 28th March – Early Bird Deadline, Friday 30th May – Regular Deadline, Wednesday 30th July – Late Deadline (Features, Feature Documentaries, International Shorts, International Documentary Shorts), Friday 1st August – Irish Shorts Late Deadline (Irish Shorts, Irish Documentary Shorts, Cork Shorts, Cork Documentary Shorts)

Arts and Disability Connect Round Two 2025 Opens: Monday 18 August, Deadline: Tuesday 7 October at 4pm, Come and Ask Questions session via Zoom: Wednesday 3 September at 12 noon

aemi compiles a regular newsletter which includes information about funding deadlines, events, exhibitions, festivals, and opportunities of particular interest to Irish and Ireland-based artist and experimental filmmakers. You can subscribe to aemi’s Monthly Newsletter for free here

You can also access aemi’s Newsletter archive here.

If you would like to submit an event or artist opportunity for an upcoming newsletter you can do so by emailing [email protected]

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