The organisers of Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
are calling for entries from South African and international filmmakers for the
2014 edition of the festival.
As a result of the extraordinary number of entries, Encounters now charges a
nominal submission fee from filmmakers who are not from South Africa and the
rest of Africa. The fee amounts to USD15 (non-refundable) through PayPal.
The festival accepts South African, African and international documentary films of
all lengths and subject matter. The festival’s selection committee reviews
submitted films and all films are viewed and considered.
Encounters is looking for shorts of 30 minutes or less; medium-length
documentaries between 31 and 59 minutes; and feature length documentaries
of 60 minutes or longer.
Organisers encourage filmmakers to submit films completed after July 2013,
although films made before are also eligible for consideration into the festival.
Films that have been broadcast on South African television before the festival
won’t be accepted.
Entry requirements
• Submitted films should either be in English or have English subtitles
• Encounters accepts submissions on DVD, YouTube and Vimeo. Please note,
should you choose to send a Vimeo link and your film gets accepted, the festival
will require a DVD screener
• All DVDs and covers have to be clearly labelled with the film title, contact
information and year of completion
• All DVD submissions should include a full submission form
• If posting outside of South Africa, please mark your package to read “NO
COMMERCIAL VALUE; FOR CULTURAL PURPOSES ONLY’. Encounters will not
accept the package if there are custom fees that need to be paid and will not
accept responsibility for any lost or damaged DVDs for selection
• All preview DVD screeners can be submitted in PAL or NTSC
• The holder of copyright authorises the festival to make excerpts, of a
maximum of three minutes, available for use on television channels, the
Encounters’ website, and the festival’s YouTube channel for the promotion of the
film and the festival
• Screeners and any promotional material submitted will not be returned to
the sender.
The deadline for documentary submissions to arrive at the festival offices is at
17h00 on Tuesday 25 March 2014.
Visit www.encounters.co.za for more information.
