Bursaries - We will be awarding three bursaries of £1000 by the end of October 2008 - applications closed now

People often start documentaries as passion projects. It's a long and exhausting process to come up with an idea and secure access with a character, find equipment to use, decide what it's going to look like and actually film it. It's easy to run out of time, focus and resources before the edit even. That's why lots of projects don't get finished properly, or at all.

Technical standards become even more important when you're hoping your film will be played in a cinema screen. Fiction filmmakers would not dream of sending their films to festivals without a tight edit, sound-mix and grade, and neither should you. The documentary label should not be used an excuse for an unprofessional film. If you are thinking of competing at festival level, your film must be polished to make the most of the material for the audience.

This is why we have decided to award FourDocs festival bursaries. They are for people who want to make documentaries their own way - for festivals, not for television. Therefore, what we are looking for is strong visual ideas that stand a good chance of being selected at film festivals. We also recommend you read Sheffield Doc/Fest Programmer Hussain Currimbhoy's tips.

The Prize

We'll be awarding 3 bursaries of £1000 to people who have already started making a short documentary intended for film festivals. Films can be any length up to 30 minutes, (although it is worth noting that festival programmers prefer shorter shorts, and so we recommend films be under 20 minutes.) The money must be spent on making your film festival ready, but it's up to you to decide how to do that. It could be used to hire a professional editor, get a sound mix and grade (highly recommended) or other production costs such as archive or music, or gathering additional footage. This is NOT a commissioning opportunity for ideas; it's more like completion funding.

How to enter

This round has closed, but we will open again later in the year.

Terms & Conditions

• This competition is open to anyone over 18 making a short documentary aimed for festival distribution, either from the UK or living and working in the UK.
• You must have made at least one film before.
• Judges are looking for strong visual ideas that stand a good chance of being selected at film festivals.
• Your entry can't be just an idea. You need to have started work already.
• Bursaries can be used to hire people, services and equipment, although they cannot be used as a director's fee.
• You cannot enter a project that is due as part of a training course, however you can enter a project that is a development of a film you made on a course if the film will be substantially re-cut.
• If your entry exceeds the maximum word limit your entry may not be considered by the judges.
• Entries must be received by midnight on Sunday 12th October.
• Channel 4 has the right to request a FourDocs logo at the end of the film.
• Winners will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond. If Channel 4 does not receive a response, another entrant may be selected.
• The final decision on awarding the bursaries belongs to Channel 4 and Channel 4's decision is final.

Your entry is governed by the Channel 4 Competition Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy. Please ensure you have read them and agree to them before you submit your entry.