The Sundance Institute currently has several open or upcoming application deadlines for 2025‑2026 supporting independent artists and projects. Key deadlines include the 2026 Episodic Lab closing on November 9, 2025, the Merata Mita Fellowship on November 3, 2025, the Graton Fellowship on December 8, 2025, and the Native Lab on December 22, 2025. The Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship deadline is February 12, 2026, and the Feature Film Producers Track closes around February 11‑12, 2026. The Ignite Challenge accepts applications through July 1, 2026. These opportunities span labs, fellowships, mentorships, and development tracks for filmmakers and storytellers. Most programs are open to international applicants, though some (like Native Lab and Graton Fellowship) have specific community or regional eligibility requirements. Additionally, submission windows for film and episodic content for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival occurred during mid‑2025, with the festival itself scheduled from January 22 to February 1, 2026. These dates represent the latest publicly available deadlines across multiple Sundance initiatives.
DIFFERENT DATES FOR ACTIVITIES
Review official bases.
Sundance Institute
Laboratories and short courses.
Online Latin American and face-to-face modality (ask for exhibitor country).
Review dates of laboratories and courses.
The Film Incubator
-Development of short films.
-Film script.
-Directing actors in movies.
-Film script laboratory.
-The creation of a video clip.
-The art of film editing.
-Series writing.
-Documentary film laboratory
-In search of one's own voice in documentary film.
-The creative process of art direction.
-Sound Design and Editing.
DocuLab: Documentary Lab is an industry program of the Guadalajara International Film Festival, aimed at promoting the development of Ibero-American filmmakers and their documentary films in the editing stage, through in-depth analysis and discussions with experts in the genre.
For its fourteenth edition, DocuLab returns in person, continuing its role as a fundamental training space for the non-fiction genre in Ibero-America.
Review official rules.
DOCULAB: DOCUMENTARY LAB - FICG
The 48 takes place on different weekends in different cities throughout the year. In each city local Film Teams—from beginners to pro's--compete to make a short film in only a weekend! Do you and your friends have what it takes to make a film on the fly?
It all begins with the Friday night Kickoff event when you and teams in your city draw genres out of a hat and receive the required elements for your film.
Then it is off to the races—writing, shooting and editing and doing whatever it takes to submit your short film on Sunday night.
The big payoff is seeing your masterpiece in the big screen at a local theater. Every film, both on-time and late, will screen. There is nothing better than seeing your film with an audience and seeing firsthand how they react to your movie.
At the city awards event, the winning films—as determined by local judges—are announced. More than a dozen awards are given—from Best Acting to Best Directing to the top prize: Best Film.
Review official rules.
The 48 Hour Film Project
ParisDOC Works‑in‑Progress 2026 is a call from the professional platform of the Cinéma du réel festival, focused on feature documentary projects in advanced editing or post‑production stages. Submission opens on November 17, 2025, and closes on January 7, 2026. The event will take place in Paris, France, on March 25 and 26, 2026, during the festival. The call accepts international submissions from any country, provided materials are in English or French, or with subtitles in one of those languages. It is dedicated to the documentary genre, specifically feature‑length documentaries (minimum 60 minutes) with a first cut completed and meeting originality and distribution potential criteria. Classified under Works‑in‑Progress / Industry, the program offers industry showcases and networking for projects in progress. Accepted formats are feature documentaries in post‑production, presented to industry professionals to support their distribution and promotion.
Review official bases.
PARIS DOC
