The festival returns 17-20 October 2024
Festival passes for 2024 are on sale now.
FDF Doc Club screens Frida (2024) on the 17th of April at the Silver Screen Cinema
Docs by the sea
The 2023 Folkestone Documentary Festival featured the best in new international documentaries. 11 feature-length films, 9 shorts, a VR exhibition, a group walk, a communal meal, drinks and parties, an industry afternoon, and the chance to hear from amazing filmmakers in post-film Q&As in a friendly and fun atmosphere. Taking place in The Silver Screen, Folkestone's gem of an independent cinema, Creative Folkestone's flagship Quarterhouse venue, The Green Room, Folkestone's newest arts space, and The Brewery Tap, UCA's exhibition space.
The audience award winner was White Nanny Black Child and 2023 was our biggest year so far and thank you to all the people who came and supported the festival.
Join us for 2024 - book your pass now!
Submissions now open
Submit your film to FDF for a chance to be a part of one of the newest and most exciting documentary film festivals in the UK. Over the last three years FDF has already built a legacy of showcasing exceptional filmmaking from all around the world to passionate audiences right here in Folkestone.
If you have a feature-length documentary, or a short documentary we warmly invite you to make a submission today. We’ll be accepting submissions on a rolling basis until 6 May 2024.
FDF Doc Club
"Beguiling documentary captures Frida Kahlo’s spirit and originality" The Guardian
Programme highlights from 2023
The festival featured stories about body image, LGBTQIA rights, disability, performance, family, migration, dementia, big stones, little puffins, skating, saunas and a whole lot more.
![Image from Your Fat Friend]()
Your Fat Friend
The rise of Aubrey Gordon, from anonymous blogger as "Your Fat Friend" to NYTimes best-seller and beloved podcaster. Fatness, family and making change
Find out more![Image from Smoke Sauna Sisterhood]()
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
In the darkness of smoke sauna, women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences, and wash off the shame trapped in their bodies
Find Out More![Copa 71 image]()
Copa 71
This is Copa 71, the unofficial Women’s World Cup in Mexico City. Dismissed by FIFA, this event has been entirely written out of history. Until now.
Find Out More![Image from We Are Nature documentary]()
Black Outside - Film, Walk and communal meal
The personal, communal and ancestral experiences of people of colour with the land and natural surroundings of the UK and the Caribbean
Find Out More![Andrew and Eden Kötting from THE TELL-TALE ROOMS]()
The Tell Tale Rooms
A father-daughter VR artwork collaboration blending immersive animation, archive and live-action to celebrate a rare neurological syndrome
Find Out More![Lands End image]()
Lands End
A journey of ups and downs, following Barney Page as he rides the length of the British Isles on his skateboard in memory of his friend Ben Raemers.
Find Out More
Filmmaking Challenge
A massive congratulations to the winners of our Filmmaking Challenge, run in partnership with Klip Films and Screen South. The winner of best film was Oliver Pratt for John and the Ossuary, and winner of best environmental film was Joni Lambert for The Spiral Society. Runners up were Helen Lindon, Anna Braithwaite and Josta Hopps. Audience Award winner was, again, Joni. Congratulations to them all, we loved doing this challenge and we hope to run it again next year!
We had a really wonderful time at Folkestone Doc Fest and really hope the festival goes from strength to strength. For many of us filmmakers, festivals make the long arduous process of making films worth it, but they can also be prohibitively expensive. So, thank you so much for covering the expenses for our travel, accommodation, feeding us, and the cherry on top, the prize money for the Audience Award. We will spend this on the Movie Makers, and raise a glass to Folkestone Doc Fest and the future of cinema.
Festival Supporters and Partners
