General Guideline
Documentary Filmmakers from Asia, who have a particular project, at any stage of development, production or rough cut phase, can submit in Dhaka DocLab.
There is no entry fee for submitting project. Only the selected project participants need to pay the participation fee (as mentioned in detail later).
The Project must be submitted online by filling up the given submission form our website .
Only projects that are submitted online (as mentioned above) will go through the final selection phase.
It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to clear all content of the project from any and all actual or potential legal claims and issues, including, without limitation, claims based upon theories of libel, defamation, invasion of privacy, violation of rights of publicity, theft of trade secrets, breach of confidence, breach of confidential relationship, and breach of express or implied contract (“Third Party Claim(s)”). The authority expressly disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any unauthorized inclusion of any content or materials within or relating to the submitted project that is or may be the basis for any Third-Party Claim(s) based upon any of the foregoing legal theories or others. The authority reserves the right to disqualify any project that is or may become the subject of any Third-Party Claim(s). In the event that any Third-Party Claim(s) shall be asserted by any person or entity, Applicant shall fully indemnify and defend the authority and each of their representatives and affiliates from any liability in connection therewith and from any and all fees and expenses.
Upon completion of the selection process, Management of Dhaka DocLab will attempt to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form to notify the Applicant of the project’s acceptance status. The authority disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any failure to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that all the contact information provided on the submission form is accurate.
Project(s) which is not selected will not be the subject of notification. Only the selected project(s) will be notified by official mail.
The decision of the authority regarding the selection of the project will be considered as final and binding on all and will not be subject to discussions.
Project(s) once submitted and selected for mentoring and pitching, will not be allowed to withdraw under any circumstance. Participation in the event would imply acceptance of the event’s guidelines.
Project Submission Rules: Some Specifications
The Applicant must fill out the submission form as it requires. The authority reserves the right to disqualify any submission that is not filled properly.
For the convenience of the applicants, a short list of requirements is stated below –
➤ Name of Project
➤ Logline (30 words)
➤ Synopsis (300 Words)
➤ Director’s statement ( 200 words)
➤ Production plan ( 200 words)
➤ Director & Producers Bio ( 70 Words)
➤ Project status (30 words)
➤ Total Budget (in USD)
➤ Teaser/Clip/Visual material (Development 3 minutes, Rough Cut 10 min)
➤ Director and Producer headshot (500×400 Pixel)
➤ Project Still [Must in Horizontal (16:9) Poster is not allowed]
➤ Contact Details of the Director and producer (Phone Number with active WhatsApp, Email and Address)
The teaser/visual material needs to be uploaded to Vimeo or Youtube or any other web storage as the applicant feels convenient. Please ensure that your link is password protected, remains active and is downloadable till the end of the selection process.
No hard copy of the Teaser/Clip/Visual material is allowed to submit. Only soft copy uploaded with the submission form is allowed.
Teaser/Clip/Visual material will be acceptable with the following particulars only:
File format – MP4,
Aspect Ratio – 4:3 or 16:9,
Image Resolution – 720*1080 or 1920*1080
As a wide variety of Mentors & Decision Makers from different parts of the world will be present during the event, Teaser/Clip/Visual material should contain on-screen hard-coded English subtitles, regardless of any language film. Individual files for subtitles with the Teaser/Clip/Visual material will not be accepted.
A maximum of two participants can apply for a single project. In that case, one participant would be considered as 2nd participant (this needs to be decided by the applicant by himself/herself) and would have to pay the designated participation fee for his/her participation as 2nd participant.
Additional Requirement for Work-In-Progress/Rough-Cut Category Applicants
Work-In-Progress/Rough-Cut Category applicants need to submit 10-minute visual material of his/her project during the submission of the project application.
Guidelines for Observer
Any person with a keen interest in documentary film, or documentary filmmaking or have a project/thinking of a project that he/she wants to pitch in the near future can participate as an observer at Dhaka DocLab for better understanding.
There is a submission form for participation as an observer (www.dhakadoclab.org/). The Applicant must fill out the submission form as it requires. The authority reserves the right to disqualify any submission that is not filled properly.
Upon completion of the selection process, Dhaka DocLab authority will attempt to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form to notify the Applicant of the project’s acceptance status. The authority disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any failure to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that all the contact information provided on the submission form is accurate.
Only the selected applicant will be notified by official mail. The decision of the authority regarding selection will be considered as final and binding on all and will not be subject to discussions. Participation in the event would imply acceptance of the event’s guidelines.
Fees
There is no application fee for Dhaka DocLab 2025 project submissions. Only selected project participants and observers need to pay the participation fee to attend the Dhaka docLab workshop.
International Participants
1. Project Participant (1st participant) -200 USD.
2. Project Participant (2nd participant) -150 USD.
3. Observer -100 USD.
Bangladeshi Participants
1. Project Participant (1st participant) -12,000 BDT.
2. Project Participant (2nd participant) -10,000 BDT.
3. Observer – 6,000 BDT.
