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DOCK 2026

It is our great pleasure to invite you to the new edition of the DOCK International Historical Documentary Film Festival, taking place from 17 to 22 September 2026 in Burgas, Bulgaria.

For six festival days, DOCK will once again bring together cinema, history, memory and contemporary perspectives on the past. Films from Bulgaria and around the world will introduce us to remarkable people, defining events and extraordinary stories, reminding us that history is never simply about what has passed, it continues to shape the questions we ask today.

In 2026, DOCK also takes an important new step forward.

For the first time, the festival introduces a dedicated competitive selection for short documentary films, opening the programme to new voices, new perspectives and new ways of exploring history through cinema.

And for the first time, our audiences will also have a voice through the Audience Award, because the encounter between a film and its viewers lies at the very heart of a film festival.

This year, DOCK’s parallel programme is dedicated to the theme “80 Years Since the End of the Third Bulgarian Tsardom”, inviting us to revisit one of the defining turning points in Bulgaria’s modern history and to reflect on the legacy it has left behind.

17–22 September 2026

NHK Cultural Centre, Burgas

Free admission to all screenings

Over the coming weeks, we will introduce you to the films in competition, their creators, our international jury, special guests and the events that will once again make Burgas a meeting place for historical documentary cinema.

The festival is made possible with the financial support of the Municipality of Burgas and the Bulgarian National Film Center.

About DOCK

The interest in historical cinema over the last decade is a trend in contemporary documentary filmmaking. In keeping with this trend, not only on world screens but also in our country, in 2018 we launched the largest forum for international historical documentary cinema – DOCK. The main edition is held annually in Burgas, every September, over the course of five days.

DOCK offers:

An official competitive program with ten feature films
An official competitive program with ten short films
A parallel program
Lectures and special screenings

The films are evaluated by a highly qualified international jury, which presents the grand prize of 1,000 EUR.

Producers, directors, and screenwriters from all over the world are attending the festival, and public access to all screenings is completely free.

The mission of DOCK is to be one of the most valuable cultural events in Bulgaria, contributing to the exploration of world history in an attractive and memorable way.