Docaviv, the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival, has been chosen by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (The Academy) as one of the world’s 28 Oscar-qualifying film festivals, an exclusive list that includes, among others, the Cannes Film Festival, IDFA and the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). Award-winners from these festivals will now be eligible for consideration in the Oscars’ Documentary Feature category.

The Academy has recently changed the Oscar eligibility rules for documentaries. Films that have won a qualifying award at one of the chosen film festivals will be eligible for Academy Awards consideration without having to meet the Academy’s strict theatrical distribution requirements.

Starting this year, Docaviv winners in the Best Israeli and Best International Film categories will be automatically eligible to compete for the Best Documentary Feature award at the Oscars. This year’s winners in each category, announced at Docaviv Festival in May, are Ofir Trainin’s Family in Transition and Simon Lereng Wilmont’s The Distant Barking of Dogs, respectively.

The documentary feature qualifying festival list can be found here

These are not Docaviv’s first Oscar-qualifying award categories. Winners of the Best Documentary Short Award at Docaviv already qualify for entry into the Academy Awards Short Film Competition.