Deadline Date: March 03, 2026
The Dutch Film Fund is now accepting applications for its CineDoc Grant Program to support the production of ambitious Dutch feature-length documentaries intended primarily for cinema and aiming for the highest possible cinematic quality.
The program focuses on the production of feature-length documentaries, cinematic quality in content and production, Dutch directing talent, cinema-oriented releases, cultural value, and strong national and international positioning.
CineDoc is designed for original documentary projects with compelling cultural value and a solid theatrical release in the Netherlands, requiring a cinema window of at least 10 to 12 weeks. The director must have released at least one documentary in Dutch cinemas, and the independence of the producer as a cultural entrepreneur must be guaranteed. Eligible projects must have a minimum production budget of €850,000.
The film plan must include a written statement from an experienced film distributor expressing confidence in the production, endorsing the intended audience reach, and providing a specific distribution guarantee consistent with the film’s theatrical ambition. Confidence in international audience potential must also be supported through a commitment from a sales agent.
CineDoc offers a maximum contribution of €450,000 per documentary, subject to state aid frameworks. This contribution includes earmarked funding for international sales deliveries of up to €6,000, as well as audio description and subtitling of up to €6,000 to ensure accessibility for visually and hearing impaired audiences across multiple platforms. Additional earmarked support is available for the producer’s marketing and promotional costs during the production phase, covering up to 75 percent of the costs with a maximum of €20,000. A maximum of three documentaries per year may receive funding through CineDoc.
Applications may be submitted by independent production companies that are legal entities and have been established for at least two years in the Netherlands, an EU member state, the EEA, or Switzerland, and that continuously produce and exploit films or other audiovisual works. The production company must be represented by a producer with demonstrable experience who has been primarily responsible for at least one documentary released in Dutch cinemas and has achieved national and or international public success, and the producer must not be the same person as the film’s director or screenwriter.
For more information, visit Dutch Film Fund.
