Netflix has announced that its Documentary Talent Fund will return for another year in a continued effort to provide opportunities and support to under-represented filmmakers from across the UK and Ireland. Five filmmakers, and their teams will have the chance to make a short documentary film with a budget of £30,000 each.

Entries will be open from January 9th to February 12th 2026. For the first round, applicants will be required to submit a logline (one sentence); a short synopsis and a creative statement about their documentary idea. Applicants must be a UK or Ireland resident to apply.

Kate Townsend, Netflix Documentaries, commented: “We hope that aspiring filmmakers from across the UK and Ireland will gather their teams over the next month, ahead of applications opening in January, to come up with some amazing and surprising ideas for a short documentary. We are looking to work with creatives who may have some experience within the industry but are looking for the next opportunity to super-charge their careers. This is a great moment for us to engage with the next generation of documentary makers and support where we can.”

All teams will be under the guidance of Netflix and other filmmaking professionals and will take part in Netflix hosted workshops covering all aspects of production including legal, creative, HR, production and finance. The programme is designed as a stepping stone for those aspiring to take the next leap in their careers.

The fund thus far has supported 21 films with over 65 festival screenings and filmmakers have gone on to win numerous awards and accolades for their work. Director of Band, Owen Tooth, was named as a BAFTA Breakthrough 2025 as well as a Broadcast Hot Shot. Director of The Herring Queen, Eilidh Munro has recently received official funding from Screen Scotland to develop her debut feature documentary. The producer of the same short, Isabella Bassett, went on to work on a BFI Network Short film executive produced by Lena Dunham and was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA 2025. Ailill Martin, director of The Good Farmer and The Failed Son has been selected to take part in the Werner Herzog filmmaking workshop ‘Experience Azores.’ Anna Snowball, director of Iranian Yellow Pages was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow 2025 and her short was nominated for a Grierson Award and Critics’ Circle Award, whilst also screening at BFI London, Big Sky, and AFI Fest. Dhivya Kate Chetty is on BAFTA Elevate 2025. Jason Osborne, Tobi Kyeremateng and Shiva Raichandani are part of the TV Collectives Breakthrough leaders 2024/25.

In their finished forms, each documentary must be between 8-12 minutes long and will live on the Netflix ‘See What’s Next’ YouTube Channel following festival runs. The brief for these short documentaries is ‘CHANGE’. The shortlisted teams will be invited to a pitch day at Netflix UK HQ in the summer of 2026.

Elisabeth Hopper returns as Lead Producer of the fund for the fourth year, alongside producers Georgie Yukiko Donovan (Unit Director, Heart of Invictus) and Daisy Ifama (Netflix Doc Fund alumni 2021/22).

Molinare Creative Group will serve as the sole post-production supporter on this initiative. The team will provide full post-production services for all five upcoming Netflix Documentary Talent Fund pairs, supporting filmmakers with end-to-end expertise. As part of the fund, the team will also lead an in-depth post-production workshop, sharing knowledge and insights to help filmmakers navigate the entire process.

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Categories: Press Releases

Tags: bafta, BFI, Documentary+, netflix