How to apply

Research and Development Fund

Thank you for your interest in the Violet Pictures RAD Fund, which supports worldwide director/producer teams currently in the early stages of developing a single feature documentary. Applications are assessed as they are submitted, with a maximum award of €2,000.

Application Process:

Please send through the following documents:

• A detailed two-page proposal.
• A Visual pitch deck.
• What you plan to spend the development money on.
• A timeline of your development plan.

Please note that the only requirements for receiving the grant are a credit of “The film was developed with support from Violet Pictures Research and Development Fund” and tickets to the film’s festival premiere.

The fund is now open. Deadline July 24.

2025 Awards:
The Chimney Sweeper - Dir: Shingo Ota, Producer: Kyoko Takenaka
At 85, Yoshio is one of Japan's last chimney sweepers for public bathhouses. When an earthquake damages a bathhouse in rural Noto Peninsula, he takes on what may be the final and most dangerous job of his life.

Shape of Silence - Dir/Producer: Varun Trikha
A blind Polish linguist and bioacoustician has spent years archiving the sonic secrets of forests. As aural environments shift, she journeys in search of a mysterious wild sound, one that once offered her solace, hoping it might now help others, too.

2024 Award:
Big in Gazi Baba - Dir: Pauline Blanchet, Producer: Avdi Thachi
In one of North Macedonia’s toughest neighbourhoods, 14-year-old Sadije is the only girl in her wrestling club and was raised as her family’s son, expected to lead in a household with no boys. As she becomes a champion, she must find her own path through the painful transformation into a young matriarch.

Updates (Last updated March 2026):
Shape of Silence has been awarded the following grants:
• A Sundance Development Grant.
• Grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council in Canada.

Image credits: Shape of Silence (Top), The Chimney Sweeper (side)