Southern Circuit: Call for Filmmakers

Program Description

The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is the South’s only tour of filmmakers. We collaborate with a network of Screening Partner venues and filmmakers to share the transformative power of indie films with communities across the South. Southern Circuit is an amazing opportunity for both emerging and established filmmakers. Filmmakers are paid to tour with their films, participate in post-screening Q&A sessions, and lead conversations through educational, social, and press engagements. Meeting with Southern audiences of various backgrounds and perspectives, filmmakers share their work and experience their films through the lens of local audiences.

Southern Circuit works with our Screening Partners to develop independent film audiences throughout the South. Our Screening Partner venues span across sectors, including schools and universities, performing arts centers, places of worship, and museums. Southern Circuit isn’t just for film aficionados-audiences include high school and college students, community members of all ages, families, civic and social groups-everyone! These engagements are more than a screening; we connect audiences face-to-face with some of today’s most sought-after filmmakers for an in-depth look at the art of filmmaking and a host of relevant topics. Films explore the issues and people that affect our world, sparking important conversations at the local level.

We screen feature-length documentary films. Southern Circuit is composed of three separate Circuits, each with six filmmakers (for 18 filmmakers total) who travel to communities throughout the South (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). The Circuit tours take place throughout September, October, November, February, March, and April. Filmmakers will tour an estimated 10-12 days.

Selected Filmmakers Receive

• A screening honorarium for each in-person screening on the tour. 
• Paid travel expenses/reimbursements to include coach airfare booked no less than 4 weeks before the tour, baggage fees, basic car rental or mileage for personal vehicles, and rideshare costs.
• A per diem (per evening away from home) to cover expenses for meals and lodging.
• Marketing support from South Arts and Screening Partners for each screening.

Selected Filmmakers Agree To

• Travel to designated Screening Partner venues throughout the South.
• Present a screening approximately 40-120 minutes in length.
• Engage audiences in a 30-minute post-screening Q&A discussion of the work, the filmmaking process, and their lives as artists.
• Participate in program-related events coordinated by Screening Partners on the tour, such as private dinners, public receptions, classroom presentations, etc.
• Participate in Southern Circuit social media to promote the tour. 

 Important Dates & Deadlines

• Application Opens:  February 10, 2026
• Application Deadline:  April 10, 2026
• Filmmakers Notified: June 26, 2026

Informational Webinar

Film & Filmmaker Eligibility

• Southern Circuit accepts feature-length documentary films.
• Applicants must live in the United States and have a valid form of government identification.
• Filmmakers must submit a film that is 40-120 minutes in length.
• Films must have been completed within the last four years.
• Both trailers and full-length films must either be in English or have English subtitles.
• Filmmakers will be expected to drive between venues that are 300 miles or less.
• Southern Circuit does not have premiere requirements. However, the program does take previous screenings and broadcasts into consideration during the selection process. It is the filmmaker’s responsibility to notify Southern Circuit of any changes in premiere status during the submission process.
• If a film has a confirmed distribution deal, the filmmaker (or their production company) must legally maintain festival and educational distribution rights to participate in Southern Circuit. South Arts does not provide distribution fees.
• Films selected to tour must screen in DCP. 

Guidelines

Submission Rules

• Complete a Filmmaker application from February 10, 2026, through April 10, 2026.
• There is a $25 non-refundable entry fee due when applying. Students enrolled in an accredited film program may request a fee waiver.
• For screener access, submission links must be unlisted, not private. Please test your link before submitting it. Inaccessible links will be disqualified.
• Filmmakers are responsible for obtaining any necessary licenses, royalties, release forms, clearances, and permits needed to present their work.
• Southern Circuit only accepts completed films. Rough cuts will not be considered.
• All decisions made by Southern Circuit are final.

By submitting your film to the 2026-2027 Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, you attest that your work can be legally screened for festival presentations and used for educational and community engagement purposes. Entrant represents and warrants that all materials submitted shall be original work of the applicant (and its employees, if any), and not of any third party. Entrant warrants that it has good and marketable title to the entire submitted work. Entrant releases South Arts from all claims and causes of action whatsoever (including, without limitation, infringement or violation of personal and/or property rights of any sort, including, to the maximum extent permitted by law, defamation) arising from the use, production, promotion, distribution, exploitation, and presentation of the film. Entrant agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless South Arts (including its directors, officers, and employees) from and against all claims, liabilities, losses, suits, damage costs, and expenses (including but not limited to reasonable attorneys' fees and costs), and damages suffered, incurred, arising out of, or related to any claims that any part(s) or all of the film infringe upon any copyright or trademark (statutory or common law); constitute an invasion of the right to privacy or publicity; constitute a defamation; or constitute an infringement of any other right or any kind, of any third party with any change in their relevant contact information or eligibility.

Selection & Notification

Qualifying submissions enter an adjudication process with films reviewed by Southern Circuit programmers, invited jurors (Southern Circuit alums, filmmakers, film festival programmers, film presenters, etc.). Final selections are made by Screening Partners who determine which films will screen in their communities as part of the 2026-2027 Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers.

The primary contact listed on the application will be notified of their film’s status via email by June 26, 2026. It is the primary contact’s responsibility to update the grant portal (Salesforce) with any change in their relevant contact information or eligibility.

For technical assistance with the application, please contact grants @southarts.org. For all other questions related to the program, please contact Lisa Smalls at lsmalls@southarts.org or schedule a meeting here.