Festival start: 23 October 2026
Festival end: 31 October 2026
Dear friends,
First and foremost, we want to thank you. This 2026, AricaDoc celebrates its 10th anniversary, and your films have been fundamental in walking this path. That is why we want to celebrate this milestone by inviting you once again to share your works with the communities of audiences that have grown around our festival.
We know that the global context can seem daunting and that uncertainty often weighs heavily on our hearts. With that in mind, we want to offer you a space for gathering, celebration, and care. We want to commemorate that, against all odds, we have managed to sow a place in the far north of Chile where human creative power can express itself through hope rather than destruction.
For ten years, we have continued walking obstinately as a small crowd. Together, we have built a community whose primary interest is to come together around filmmaking, dialogue, and the possibility of imagining other ways of inhabiting this world.
That is why we want to invite you to send us your films, the essential ingredient of this celebration through which we seek to continue nurturing diverse ways of feeling, thinking, and sharing life in a world that is wounded, yet still capable of healing.
We look forward to welcoming you with joy.
The AricaDoc Team
AricaDoc is proposed as a non-competitive event, so no work will be awarded.
Rules
AricaDoc 2026 – 10th Arica International Documentary Film Festival
1. About the Festival
AricaDoc is an international documentary and non-fiction film festival based in the city of Arica, Chile. Its 10th edition will take place from October 23 to 31, 2026. AricaDoc is a non-competitive festival that seeks to foster connections between films, filmmakers, and audiences through screenings, discussions, educational activities, and opportunities for reflection on contemporary documentary cinema.
2. Call for Entries
The call for entries is open to documentary and nonfiction films from any country.
Submission to AricaDoc is free and can be made through the festival’s online form or via the Festhome platform.
Films must be submitted within the deadlines established in the call for entries and meet the requirements outlined in these rules.
3. Schedule
Call for entries opens: June 15, 2026
Call for entries closes: July 15, 2026
Results announced: September 30, 2026
Festival dates: October 23–31, 2026
The festival reserves the right to modify these dates due to force majeure or programming needs, and will provide timely notice through its official channels.
4. Categories and Production Dates
Feature Films
Documentary and nonfiction works with a runtime of 60 minutes or more.
They must have been completed on or after January 1, 2025.
Medium-length films
Documentary and nonfiction works with a running time of between 30 and 59 minutes.
They must have been completed on or after January 1, 2025.
Short films
Documentary and nonfiction works with a running time of less than 30 minutes.
They must have been completed on or after January 1, 2024.
In exceptional cases, the programming committee may consider works produced prior to that date if their artistic, cultural, or historical significance contributes significantly to the programming of the festival’s tenth edition.
There is no premiere requirement for any of the categories.
5. Curatorial Criteria
AricaDoc’s selection process does not focus on specific themes, regions, or issues. The festival seeks works that powerfully reflect the expressive, emotional, political, and formal potential of contemporary documentary film.
Films that broaden the ways in which we see, hear, think, and feel the world will be evaluated, exploring the possibilities of non-fiction film as an artistic language, a space for encounter, and a practice of critical imagination.
6. Submission Materials
Submitted films must include:
-Completed registration form.
-Link to watch the film online.
-Access password, if applicable.
-Synopsis of the film.
-Technical and creative credits.
-Brief biography and filmography of the director.
-At least one still from the film for promotional purposes.
-Poster or promotional image, if available.
The festival may request additional materials from the selected films.
7. Screening Formats
Selected films must be available for screening via a high-quality digital file or through secure screening platforms authorized by producers, sales agents, or distributors.
AricaDoc does not require the submission of DCP copies for its regular programming.
8. subtitles
Films whose original language is not Spanish must be submitted with Spanish or english subtitles at the time of registration.
If selected, all films not in Spanish must have Spanish subtitles in order to be screened at the festival.
The responsibility for providing these subtitles lies with the filmmakers, producers, or distributors of the film.
9. Copyright and Authorizations
By simply submitting a film to AricaDoc, the individuals responsible for the film declare that they hold all the necessary rights, licenses, and authorizations for its registration and potential screening at the festival, including images, music, files, pre-existing works, testimonials, and any other material protected by copyright or related rights.
AricaDoc will not be liable for any third-party claims arising from the unauthorized use of materials included in the submitted films.
10. Selection and Screening
The festival team will notify the filmmakers of the selected films directly.
The individuals responsible for the selected films authorize AricaDoc to schedule the film within the festival’s official dates, between October 23 and 31, 2026.
The programming committee’s decision is final.
11. Screening Fee
AricaDoc is a non-competitive festival. As part of its commitment to the films, their filmmakers, producers, and distributors, the festival makes an effort to compensate all selected films through a screening fee.
In order for this payment to be processed, the individual, production company, distributor, or entity responsible for the film must be able to issue a valid tax document that justifies the payment to the Chilean tax authorities.
The amount of the fee will be determined by the festival based on its budgetary availability and the specific conditions of each work.
12. Use of Promotional Materials
Selected films authorize the festival to use clips of up to three minutes, photographs, posters, synopses, and other promotional materials exclusively for publicity, press, the festival catalog, the website, social media, and festival-related activities.
13. Acceptance of the Rules
Submission of a film implies full acceptance of these rules and of the decisions made by the festival’s programming committee.
Any situation not covered in these rules will be resolved by the management and the AricaDoc organizing team.
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Feature Films >60' 120'< (2024+)
No Fee
Submissions deadline
15 Jul 26
Save up
0$
Submit
a) Documentaries produced in any country and that have been completed as of January 2025 may participate.
b) The films must have a duration
minimum of 60 minutes.
c) Works that are not spoken in Spanish should preferably have subtitles in that language, or failing that, in English. In the latter case and if selected, the authors must submit a transcript of the film for translation by the festival team.
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM
Short Films 59'<
No Fee
Submissions deadline
15 Jul 26
Save up
0$
Submit
a) Documentaries produced in any country and that have been completed as of January 2025 may participate.
b) They must have a maximum duration of 59 minutes.
c) Works that are not spoken in Spanish should preferably have subtitles in that language, or failing that, in English. In the latter case and if selected, the authors must submit a transcript of the film for translation by the festival team.
