The Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund
About the Fund
Made possible by the New York Community Trust, the Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund supports feature-length documentary films in the spirit and nature of Pare Lorentz's work, researching and illuminating social issues to inform democratic education. Lorentz used a creative and intentional visual style to bring nuance to issues affecting everyday people.
Established in 2011, the fund is IDA’s oldest and has granted $1,435,000 to 75 projects granting the creation of original, independent documentary films on urgent issues. Noteworthy grantees include Black Mothers, Hummingbirds, After Sherman, Crip Camp, Yintah, Standing Above the Clouds, Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild], Powwow People, and Queer as Punk. See the full list in our Grantee Database.
Every year, the fund selects one theme - sometimes a social issue, a film form. This year's the Fund supports films in and about the United States that are in late post-production or finishing.
We select films through nominations from key film organizations throughout the United States. Once the organizations have been selected, they will be listed below.
- 2026 Theme
This year's Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund supports films in and about the United States. US influence reaches beyond its borders, which have shifted over time, through military presence, trade, culture, and the legacy of past wars and interventions.
Pare Lorentz used film to observe, investigate, and take stock of the nation in his time. We are looking for films that do the same now, examining US influence: in public institutions and private households, in landscapes and economies, in unresolved histories, in the experience of one person or many. We welcome documentary practices of every kind, journalistic, artistic, reflexive, observational. Formal experiments can be a methodology for discovery.
- 2026 Selection Timeline
Includes three selection rounds, with one grantee selected per round.
- First round: November 2026
- Second round: February 2027
Third round: May 2027
Timeline for First Round:
- End of October - Organizations nominate projects
- Early December - Nominated projects submit short application
- Early January - Finalists apply with Core Application
- Mid January - Grantee selected
- End of January - Grantee onboarded
- Applicant Eligibility
- Be the director and/or a producer who shares creative and editorial oversight of the project. Co-producers and co-directors may apply if they have editorial oversight.
- 18 years of age or older.
- An independent filmmaker working on an original project. For the purposes of this grant, IDA defines an independent filmmaker as a content creator who both owns the copyright and has full artistic, budgetary, and editorial control of the documentary project.
- Documentaries produced for or under the direction of a third party, such as a broadcast entity, university, foundation, or nonprofit organization, are ineligible.
- Films owned by a production company are eligible, provided the applicant is a member of the production company rather than just hired for the project.
- Applicants may be based anywhere in the world, but must address this year’s Pare Lorentz theme.
- At least one director and/or producer on the project must have directed and/or produced at least one completed nonfiction feature-length film (40 minutes or longer).
- At least one director and/or producer must have directed and/or produced at least one completed nonfiction feature-length film (40 minutes or longer).
- Project Eligibility
- The project must address this year’s Pare Lorentz theme.
- The project must be in late post-production at the time of applying, but have finishing costs remaining.
- Your project must be far enough along to have a rough cut.
- Your current rough cut must have captions –open captions, subtitles with audio descriptions, or closed captions.
- For further guidance on creating captions, refer to FWD-Doc Practices & Resources We Recommend, as well as the NAI Captioning and Audio Description Resources.
- The film budget must not exceed $700,000 USD.
- Access to major film participants must be secured.
- The film must be intended for a broad, international audience. A broadcast or distribution commitment is not required.
- Stories must be original, relevant to contemporary audiences, and urgent or critically important. Historical films will only be considered if they have a significant contemporary component or narrative.
- NOT eligible to apply:
- Biographies, branded content, student films, commissioned films, completed films, purely historical films, episodic, and short documentaries (under 40 minutes finished run time).
- Films that have already premiered.
- Supported Grant Activities
Grant funds may cover late post-production and finishing expenses such as insurance, rights and clearances, editing, crew salaries (including deferred payments), color correction, and graphics. The fund does not support expenses related to impact, fundraising, distribution, publicity, marketing, or outreach.
- Evaluation Criteria
Both IDA staff and a committee of distinguished filmmakers will review applications using questions such as:
- Does the applicant, application, and project, as presented, meet all the eligibility requirements?
- Does the project tell a compelling story and substantially address the Pare Lorentz theme?
- Does the project take an innovative approach to the subject matter? If this story has been told before, does it bring anything new to it, or does it reveal new information?
- Does the Director currently have the access necessary to tell the story in a compelling way?
- Is the filmmaker thinking critically about their connection and impact on the community in their film? How will they engage and collaborate with the community?
- Is the rough cut compelling and of high quality? Does it have a strong visual style? Does the artistic approach serve the story and the film's goals?
- Does the application clearly illustrate the story, structure, and vision, including their artistic approach?
- Does the filmmaker clearly articulate the story's contemporary relevance in the application?
- Would a reviewer of the LOI/application have enough trust in the team’s experience to complete the project as described?
- Does the application identify an audience and a realistic plan to reach that audience?
- Is the budget thorough and realistic? Are line items within industry norms and standards? Does the budget reflect what is written in the application?
- Period of Support
The grant period of concentrated Artist Services support is one year of the grant award. Filmmakers are strongly encouraged to use their grant funds within that first year. After that, the project will continue to receive reduced IDA support until the film is complete. Grantees complete annual deliverables based on their grant contract.
- Grants Awarded
Three projects will receive a $25,000 USD grant. One grant will be awarded per selection round. One team member from each project will receive a free 1-year IDA Doc Maker Membership.
Past Partner Organizations
- Nominating Organizations 2025
Nominating Organizations 2025
- Undocumented Filmmakers Collective
- Latino Public Broadcasting
- Third Horizon Film Festival
- ChileDoc
- DocsMX
- Femme Frontera
- DocsSP
- Guadalajara Film Festival
- Hot Docs
- Partner Organizations 2023
Partner Organizations 2023
Indie Memphis, at its core, envisions a vibrant global community of filmmakers, both young and adult, bound together by dedicated supporters, with Memphis serving as its beating heart. We are passionately dedicated to cultivating an inclusive and racially equitable independent film community, while actively nurturing the growth and development of filmmakers. Location: Memphis, Tennessee.
The Smithsonian’s Mother Tongue Film Festival celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity by showcasing films and filmmakers from around the world, highlighting the crucial role languages play in our daily lives. Through digital storytelling, the festival amplifies the work of diverse practitioners who explore the power of language to connect the past, present, and future. Location: Washington, DC.
From humble roots as a collective of emerging artists and curators living and working out of a 3-story walk-up in Brooklyn, UnionDocs has become an internationally recognized center for documentary art now headquartered in Ridgewood, Queens. Through presentation, productions, publishing, and educational programming, we bring together a diverse community of artists, dedicated journalists, big thinkers, and local partners on a search for urgent expressions of the human experience, practical perspectives on the world today, and compelling visions for the future. In doing so, we embrace the broad spectrum of documentary approaches and disciplines; from social-issue to experimental, from personal to archival, from essayistic to observational, all impulses towards "creative actuality" are given space and attention. Location: Ridgewood, New York.
- Partner Organizations 2022
Partner Organizations 2022
Recognizing the power of film to inspire, Working Films positions documentaries to increase civic engagement and shift culture at the local, state, and national level. We offer funding and in-kind support to underrepresented filmmakers. And, we share our learning and foster dialogue to further the field of documentary for change. We lead conversations and trainings with grassroots groups and nonprofits to ensure that nonfiction media is increasingly embraced as a critical resource in their strategies for social change. Location: Wilmington, North Carolina.
In the Chicago spirit of collaboration and solidarity, the newly formed Chicago BIPOC Media Coalition -- founded by Sisters in Cinema, Full Spectrum Features, Mezcla Media Collective, and OTV | Open Television -- is launching the Chicago BIPOC Media Fund to support general operations and strategic partnerships as a development & management commons. The Fund leverages the strengths of the Coalition, individually and collectively, to catalyze the most innovative investment towards a new media infrastructure that is representative of our country’s diversity. Location: Chicago, Illinois.
La Asociación de Documentalistas de Puerto Rico (AdocPR)
The Association of Documentalists of Puerto Rico (AdocPR) is a non-profit organization that brings together various generations of documentary filmmakers in the country with the aim of promoting the development of documentary filmmaking and improving our working conditions. We are currently around 40 documentary filmmakers associated with filmmakers, professors, students, and other members related to the work of documentary film. Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico.
La Asociación de Documentalistas de Puerto Rico (AdocPR) es una organización sin fines de lucro que agrupa diversas generaciones de documentalistas del país con el objetivo de promover el desarrollo del cine documental, y mejorar nuestras condiciones de trabajo. Actualmente somos alrededor de 40 documentalistas asociados entre cineastas, profesores y profesoras, estudiantes y otros miembros relacionados al quehacer del cine documental.