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Front of boat at sunset
Downstream from Kinshasha (D: Dieudo Hamadi)

The Hot Docs-Blue Ice Docs Fund has invested $1.43 million to enable more African documentary filmmakers to tell their stories and contribute to the next generation of African documentary talent. 

Applications for the 2023 round of funding are closed.

About the Fund

The Fund provides development grants of up to 10,000 CAD and production grants of up to $40,000 CAD to four to ten projects annually. Each year, up to five funded projects are invited to participate in a year-long mentorship program, which includes private filmmaker labs at Hot Docs and the Durban FilmMart/Durban International Film Festival or other festivals and markets in Africa.

The Fund also collaborates with The New York Times—Op-Docs to commission shorts from African filmmakers to showcased on The Times’s Emmy® Award–winning online forum.

To date, the Fund has awarded 100 projects from 26 countries.



Recipient Highlights

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