FEATURE FILM AWARDS
JURIED COMPETITION AWARDS
DOC NYC annually presents juried awards to Competition titles in the following categories:
- US COMPETITION
- INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
- METROPOLIS COMPETITION
ARCHIVAL STORYTELLING COMPETITION
DOC NYC’s new Archival Storytelling Competition is an annual award celebrating films that use non-AI generated archival material as their primary story driver. Nominees for the Archival Storytelling Competition will be selected by DOC NYC’s Senior Program team from among all Main Slate feature films in existing sections. Developed in collaboration with Archival Producers Alliance. Co-presented by Footage.Net, Fox Archives, and Global ImageWorks.
SUBJECT MATTER AWARD
Subject Matter is back at DOC NYC for a fourth consecutive year! In 2026, Subject Matter will award a $30,000 grant to one social issue documentary in our program, along with a corresponding $30,000 grant to a nonprofit addressing the issues featured in the film. To qualify, the documentary must be feature length and address a social issue currently impacting the United States. The Subject Matter film grant can be used to support the film’s outreach, impact, and distribution efforts.
SHINE GLOBAL RESILIENCE AWARD
The Shine Global Resilience Award at DOC NYC honors a film and filmmaker who highlights and celebrates the inspiring strength, creativity, and power of children with a $2,500 cash prize and strategic support and consulting from Shine Global. Previous Shine Global Resilience Award winners programmed at DOC NYC include Name Me Lawand and Daughters.
AUDIENCE AWARD
DOC NYC presents an Audience Award that is open to all features screening in the main slate section of the festival, with the exception of films in the Short List, Winner’s Circle, Selects Encore, or retrospective films.
SHORT FILM AWARDS
JURIED COMPETITION
The DOC NYC Shorts Competition Grand Jury Prize Winner qualifies in the Documentary Short Subject category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.
THE NATIONAL LOUIES
Short films that will pre-qualify for the 99th Academy Awards Documentary Short category are encouraged to review and consider a separate application for DOC NYC’s The Louies, which will award $100,000 to three short films who qualify. Learn more at https://www.docnyc.net/the-louies/
OTHER AWARDS
DOC NYC PITCH DAY
DOC NYC PRO’s Pitch Day is co-presented by Outlier Film Fund, a newly launched nonprofit supporting independent feature documentary films in-progress, which will provide $70,000 in non-recoupable grants and honorariums, with the two winning projects to be announced during the festival.