• The DocC bursary scheme is intended to support participation at the DocC for independent documentary professionals, artists and researchers. Residents of the city in which the DocC takes place are not eligible.
• Intended to be offered each year, the size of the bursary fund will however vary from one year to the next, depending on funds available to the organisers and number of paying participants attending the convention. As a result the total number of individual awards will vary and always depends upon the number of applicants across which it is to be spread.

• Applications are attached to the general DC participation form and  must be submitted via the DC website by the official deadline: 25th of February 2020 in English. Late or incomplete applications will be automatically rejected.
• All applications received will be reviewed for eligibility and then be forwarded to a selection committee for evaluation and selection. The selection decision of the committee is final. The organisers of the DocC will not enter into any communication with applicants regarding unsuccessful applications.
• Applications will be accepted where the request for a bursary is deemed to be reasonable and fair, the status of the applicant can be verified and the applicant fulfills the basic eligibility criteria.
• At the discretion of the Selection Committee, late or emergency applications due to unforeseen circumstances may be considered in exceptional cases.
• Successful applicants will be informed within one week following the application deadline.
• Individual bursary amounts granted are determined by the selection committee based on the information provided by the applicant and the assessment of the genuine need of the bursary.
• We strongly advice applicants requiring a visa to travel to Germany to book an appointment at the German consulate/ visa service in their c0untry.

• Award recipients must provide full information about the travel arrangements they are planning to make.
• The bursary amount can be:
  • transferred in full to the grantee’s upon on presentation of receipts within four weeks following the convention.
  • handled by the organisers, i.e. the organisers book a hotel room and flights for the award recipient. No funds are dispersed.
  • reimbursed in cash upon presentation of receipt during the DocC.
• It is the grantees responsibility to obtain the relevant visas.
• By the time of applying to the travel bursary, it is highly encouraged to have already obtained a visa appointment and present proof of the appointment with the application.
• The DocC organisers can provide invitation and support letters upon request. Such requests must be made in writing upon accepting the bursary.
• Award recipients agree to actively contribute to and attend the full programme of the DocC.
• The organisers retain the right to revoke funds deemed to have been awarded under false pretense. This includes failure to attend the activities of the convention. Recipients that fail to attend the convention without evidence of acceptable outstanding circumstances (force majeure), will have to repay all funds they received.
• Award recipients that are prevented from attending the convention after securing the bursary must notify the organisers immediately, so as to ensure that another applicant can be considered instead.
• Award recipients agree to the use of their name and image in any publicity material related to Documentary Convention.
• A bursary may only be made once to any individual.

Submitting an online application will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.

The bursary scheme is supports travel to participate in the annual Documentary Convention.

The scheme is designed for independent documentary professionals. Applicants must demonstrate a track record of actively working and contributing to the local, regional or international documentary industries be it as documentary practitioner, member of a support or training initiative or researcher. Eligible candidates are form the Arab World or Europe.

Eligible countries from Europe:

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Turkey, the Republic of Serbia

Eligible Countries from the Arab World:

Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen and the Diaspora

The number of bursaries depends on the funds available and the number of applicants upon which the amount has to be spread.

No. Only applications by individuals will be considered.

The call for applications is published eight (12) weeks prior to the convention date. The deadline is around six (6) weeks prior to the convention dates. For DC’19 the deadline of applying for the travel bursary will be 4th of March 2019.

Upon receipt all application are checked for eligibility and then forwarded to the selection committee.The whole process usually takes around one weeks.

All applicants will be informed by email about the outcome of their application.

The decision of the selection committee is final. While the time and energy you put into filling the application is much appreciated, we cannot give feedback on individual applications.

The maximum bursary awards will not exceed 300 Euro for applicants residing in Europe (in both schemes) and 750 Euro for applicants residing in the Arab region.

The selection committee will assess the merits of the application based on the personal statement and supporting information. Applications will be accepted where the request for a bursary is deemed to be reasonable and fair, the status of the applicant can be verified and the applicant fulfills the basic eligibility criteria.

The bursary covers travel related costs, such as airfares and accommodation at the convention location. In cases where applicants arrange their travels, the fund is dispersed upon presentation of valid receipts, regardless of whether the awarded bursary covers the whole amount or only a part of it.

Eligible expenses are travel costs only. The bursary must not be used to cover any other expenses. As a proof the organisers require booking receipts from recipient.

The bursary can be managed in three ways:

• transferred in full to the grantee’s upon on presentation of receipts within four weeks following the convention.
• handled by the organisers, i.e. the organisers book a hotel room and flights for the award recipient. No funds are dispersed.
• reimbursed in cash upon presentation of receipt during the DC.

Award recipients, who cannot attend the convention have to inform the organisers immediately, so as to ensure that their place can be given to another applicant. Last minute cancellations and/or absence without evidence of acceptable outstanding circumstances (force majeure), will have to repay all funds they received.

Independent are such documentary professionals, who are working as freelancers, are not representing a commercial company or major organisation. Active members of training initiatives or media collectives are considered independent in the context of this bursary scheme.

The DC is a professional-to-professional event. Not a classical conference but a convention that gathers professionals to benefit of each others knowledge and experience, and a creative think tank, where solution to some of the major challenges in documentary are being explored and discussed. To avoid disappointment and as spaces are limited we need to ensure that attending the DC will benefit you and the convention alike.

A documentary professional in this case is someone who has a career in documentary and who is actively contributing to documentary industries in his/her country, region or internationally.

Unfortunately not. Currently we can only support applicants from the eligible countries.

Unfortunately not. Remember, the funds available to this scheme are limited so we very much appreciate if you can contribute in saving funds so that more applicants can benefit from the grant.  

Yes. Contributing experts and partners stay at the ibis City and ibis Budget hotels in the center of Leipzig. We have a limited allocations of rooms with special rates at both hotels. We cannot guarantee a booking for you at one of these hotels due to limited capacity but our team is happy to support you with finding alternatives in Leipzig if needed. All information about the DC’19 hotels can be found here

Unfortunately not. Directions and further information can be found here.

Unfortunately not. We can only transfer the bursary amount upon presentation of receipts of flight and/or hotel booking.

There is no standard report. You may be requested to take part in an evaluation.