Submission Categories

Feature Documentary

Individual, stand-alone documentary, more than 40 minutes in length. Submissions in this category are eligible for Best Feature, ABC News VideoSource Award, Pare Lorentz, and Creative Recognition Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Music Score, and Best Writing. 

Short Documentary

Individual, stand-alone documentary, less than or equal to 40 minutes in length. Submissions in this category are eligible for Best Short and Pare Lorentz. 

Best Music Documentary

A feature-length documentary where music is pivotal to the storytelling and is a central subject, character or theme of the documentary. This category does not recognize the original music score. Projects wishing to be considered for Best Music Score should submit in the Best Feature category and select the Best Original Music Score creative recognition category.

Creative Recognition Awards

Only projects submitted in the Feature category are eligible for Creative Recognition Awards. On-screen credit must be given for a film to be eligible for a Creative Recognition Award in that category (e.g., a film without a credited writer is not eligible for the Best Writing award). There is an additional submission fee charged for each recognition category.

Best Cinematography: The IDA Documentary Award for Best Cinematography is given to the credited cinematographer(s) or director(s) of photography whose work represents artistic or technical excellence or innovation and is a notable contribution to the documentary's artistry and storytelling

Best Editing: The IDA Documentary Award for Best Editing is given to a credited editor or editors to recognize exemplary work that is a notable contribution to the documentary's form, artistry, and storytelling.

Best Original Music Score: The IDA Documentary Award for Best Original Music Score recognizes exceptional use of originally composed music and scoring in a film. The Best Original Music Score Award is given to the person(s) credited with “Original Score by,” “Composed by,” “Original Music by,” or equivalent credit. A film must contain that credit onscreen to be considered. Applicants in this category will be required to submit a music cue sheet which will be presented to the Best Original Music Score Judging Committee.

Best Writing: The IDA Documentary Award for Best Writing recognizes exemplary skill and craft in writing through plotting and guiding the narrative path of the film. This may be through narration or developing an outline for the film carried out in the editing. The Best Writing Award will be awarded to the person(s) credited with “Written by,” “Writer,” or equivalent credit. A film must contain that credit onscreen to be considered.

Additional Sponsored Awards

We may also consider submissions in primary categories for one or more special category sponsored awards. Nominations for these additional sponsored awards are recommended by awards judging committees and may include prize money or cash honorariums. If your project is nominated for consideration in an additional awards category, we will notify you and may request additional information or credits. If you believe your project is eligible, submit your project to the Best Feature or Best Short, then check one or more of the additional awards in the special awards section to be considered. There is no additional submission fee for these awards.

ABC News VideoSource Award (Sponsored): This award recognizes a feature documentary that uses news footage as an integral component of the storytelling. "News footage" is defined as factual footage, contemporary or historical, shot for use in contexts such as newsreels, news specials, magazines or nightly news. "Integral component" is defined as footage central to the structure, meaning and impact of the work. PRIZE: $5,000 cash honorarium. If there is more than one award recipient, the cash prize will be split equally between them. Please submit your project to the Best Feature category and then check "ABC News VideoSource" in the special awards section.

Documentary Series

These categories are updated for the 2024 IDA Documentary Awards. See details of changes here. Documentary series are eligible for three awards categories: Best Curated Series, Best Episodic Series, Best Limited Series. Other forms of unscripted programs such as talk shows, reality, competition programs, or programs that consist primarily of news reporting are not eligible.

Best Curated Series: 

An ongoing documentary series in which each episode stands on its own, created by different producing teams, and is unified by a high-level theme (e.g., Independent Lens; POV Shorts; 30 for 30; The New York Times Op-Docs). Episodes can be any duration in length. The series may be created without an end date and can return season after season. Series in this category may be available by broadcast or online, or may have been produced specifically for a web portal.

Best Episodic Series: An ongoing documentary series comprising episodes that are conceived and produced as part of the series, not as stand-alone entities. Each episode can be any duration in length, produced with continuity of production supervision, and unified through a topic, approach, characters or narrative (e.g., Last Chance U; Planet Earth, Couples Therapy). The series may return season after season. Series in this category may be available by broadcast or online, or may have been produced specifically for a web portal.

Best Limited Series: A single season documentary series comprising any number of episodes, with each episode in any duration in length. The series is conceived and constructed with a beginning and an end, and all the episodes are viewed sequentially to tell a complete story and/or support a single theme (i.e. Wild Wild Country; Asian Americans, City So Real). Series in this category may be available by broadcast or online, or may have been produced specifically for a web portal.

Best TV Feature Documentary

A feature documentary that was produced with the intent to broadcast or stream on a distributor/platform and was not intended to be released in theaters (i.e. Mariupol: The People's Story). The TV feature documentary may be a feature-length episode (more than 40 minutes in length) of a longer TV series or a stand-alone feature-length documentary. The projects may have streamed or broadcast with commercial breaks or uninterrupted from beginning to end.

Audio Documentary

For the 2024 IDA Documentary Awards, we are updating this category. While in previous years there were two categories, Best Stand-Alone Audio Documentary and Best Multi-Part Audio Documentary or Series, this year, both Feature Audio Documentary and Multi-Part / Series Audio Documentary will be considered in one category. Audio programs that consist primarily of news reporting, interviews, and conversational episodes are not eligible. We are not currently accepting submissions from curated podcast series’ consisting of multiple episodes on unrelated subjects. Types of work eligible for consideration in this category are:  

• A stand-alone audio documentary may be either a one-off program or a single episode (consisting of not more than two parts) from a curated series (e.g.,This American Life--episode: The Problem We All Live With, Heavyweight --episode: The Marshes), that stands on its own as a full-length documentary on a single subject or theme.
• An audio documentary series consists of multiple episodes, conceived and constructed with a beginning and an end, where all the episodes, when listened to sequentially, create a complete story or support a single theme (e.g. Somebody, Dirty John, Gladiator: The Aaron Hernandez Story).

David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award

A short or feature-length documentary produced by a registered, degree-seeking student(s). This award recognizes exceptional achievement in nonfiction film and video production at the university level. PRIZE: $1,000 cash honorarium.

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