Catalyst International Film Festival is delighted to announce the Short Documentary Bursary Award 2026. The award is open to emerging and early career filmmakers. The successful applicant will be awarded €10,000 to finance the making of a short documentary.

• Proposed short documentary films must be between 10 and 15 minutes long.
• A bursary of €10,000 will be awarded to the selected project.
• Catalyst welcomes applications in both English and Irish.
• Film teams must submit their first cut by November 15, 2026.
• It is a condition of the bursary that the completed film must be premiered at Catalyst International Film Festival 2027 (date TBC, between March and April).
• Filmmaking teams should be diverse and aim for a gender balance.
• Thematically, the film must creatively explore an aspect of equality, diversity, and inclusion in Ireland.
• Projects must demonstrate diversity and gender balance in three key areas:
  1. On-screen representation
  2. Story content
  3. Diversity behind the camera

• At least one paid internship must be available for a member of a group traditionally underrepresented in the screen industries.
• Open to applicants in ROI and NI.
• This bursary is not open to applicants who are full-time or part-time students. 

Filmmakers must submit their application via this online form.

No Application Fee! 

Each application must include:

• A logline and synopsis (200-300 words)
• A proposal or treatment, max 2 pages (PDF)
• Current CVs of each applicant filmmaker (max 2 pages per CV, PDF)
• Relevant links to previous work, if applicable (Vimeo/YouTube/Website)
• Email/letters of commitment from key on-screen contributors (PDF)
• Project budget (PDF)
• A short statement indicating how the project is inclusive and aligns with Catalyst’s diversity remit.