2025 Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize Nominations
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The Ridenhour Prizes is currently soliciting nominations for the 2025 Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize. The deadline for submissions is Friday, May 16th, 2025.
About
The Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize is given to a documentary film that in the view of the judges best reflects the legacy of Ron Ridenhour — journalist, whistleblower, truth-teller and social activist. The Prize seeks to recognize a documentary that defends the public interest, advances or promotes social justice, or illuminates a more just vision of society. To qualify for this year's prize, nominated films must have been released within the calendar year of 2024. No particular consideration will be given to the nominated film’s public profile or lack thereof.
Criteria
All eligible submissions must meet the following basic criteria:
- Films must be feature-length (defined as 45 minutes or longer).
- Films must be American productions. An American production is:
- a film in which US citizens or permanent residents are credited in at least two of the following categories of responsibilities: Director, Writer, or Producer. This can be fulfilled by one person with multiple duties or by separate individuals;
- or at least partially financed by a company whose principal office is in the United States.
- Films must be scheduled for a theatrical release. The release can be through a specialty division of a studio, an independent distributor, or via self-distribution, and must run for at least seven consecutive days; or have a major film festival release during the 2024 calendar year (from midnight, January 1 to 11:59 p.m. December 31). The film festivals that we accept submissions from are Berlin, Cannes, Hot Docs, Los Angeles, AFI Docs, Sundance, SXSW, Toronto International, and Tribeca; or be shown on free or pay TV. This refers to broadcast on a US network, “cable" television, or conventional VOD, but shall not include distribution that is exclusively over the Internet.
Deadline
Nominations must be submitted no later than Friday, May 16th, 2025.
Submission
*We strongly encourage the use of secure screener links for film submissions.*
Please include a screener link when submitting your online submission. Or, if necessary, we can accept DVD screeners. If sending DVDs, please send a hard copy of the form below with two (2) DVDs (capable of playing on Region 1/NTSC DVD players) of each nominated film to:
Type Media Center
30 Irving Place, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10003
ATTN: The Ridenhour Prizes
Assistance
For more information, please visit ridenhour.org, or contact us at 212-822-0263 or ridenhour@typemediacenter.org.