Ardán and Galway City of Film are delighted to announce that applications are now open for the Ceantar Scannán Short Documentary Bursary 2026, the annual documentary funding and mentorship scheme for filmmakers in Galway City and County, or making a film about Galway City or County.

We are looking for up-and-coming filmmakers to apply for this bursary to help them make one of their first steps in their filmmaking career.

Successful applicants will be given a bursary of €3,000 to help them make a short documentary of between five and fifteen minutes in duration.

Previous recipients of this bursary have gone on to have their films screened at the Galway Film Fleadh, as well as other local, national and international film festivals.

Read more about last year’s participants here: Ceantar Scannán Short Doc Bursary Recipients Announced for 2025!  | Ardán

About the mentorship/ Eolas maidir leis an meantóireacht:   

The selected filmmakers will be mentored by Galway-based documentary filmmaker Donal Haughey of Hawkeye Films.

Donal Haughey has produced and/or directed 30+ documentaries both for his own company, Hawkeye Films and as a freelancer. His projects have been involved in both national and international stories, consisting of feature-length, one-hour, half-hour and short form docs. For 20 years Donal was the documentary tutor on GMIT’s (ATU’s) Film & Documentary course – honours, Level 8.

Donal is presently working on a documentary about Tom Kenny and his Old Galway column, that appears weekly in The Advertiser. Donal is re-visiting “The Grotto”, a short documentary, which he made in 2025. He is also in research/development on a promo, for “The Lady in the Castle”, which looks at Oranmore Castle. The company has also received development funding from TG4 for a documentary, “Bàs in Eireann”.

Read about previous participant – Dina Sragalj’s experience in 2023.

Read about Hazel McGuire and Jenny Roche’s experience here.

#CeantarScannán #GalwayCityofFilm

Information Day

Ardán will be hosting an Information Day in April for applicants to guide them through the application process.

This will take place on Thursday April 30th at 2:00pm in the Training Room in the new CREW Building at CCAM, ATU, Wellpark Road. H91 8K85.

Please note – info session attendance is not compulsory but recommended.

Registration is free, but required – go to Eventbrite here. 

Application Guidelines

  • This bursary is aimed at entry-level filmmakers who want to take the first steps in their filmmaking career.
  • Of the two successful applicants, one must be from, based or making a film about Galway County, and the other must be from, based or making a film about Galway City.  
  • Proposed short films will be between 5 and 15 minutes in duration.  
  • A bursary of up to €3,000 is available per film.
  • The participating filmmakers will be mentored by established documentary filmmaker Donal Haughey who has supported projects through English and Irish.
  • Ardán encourages both English and Irish language project applications.  Please note the application form and interview process should be made through English. 
  • Film teams must be prepared to go into production within 2-3 weeks of signing the agreement and aim to submit their first cut by October 2026.
  • Selected projects will need to ensure a healthy gender balance across the filmmaking team.
  • Priority will be given to diverse applicants. If you feel this applies to you, please include a short statement in your application.
  • Any applicant who will be a full-time or part-time student during academic year 2026/2027 may NOT apply.

 

How to apply

Filmmakers submit their application via the Teams form here. 

Each application asks for the following information

  • 1-page outline of documentary idea, including logline, synopsis and treatment. (PDF)
  • 1-page current CV of each applicant filmmaker. (PDF)   
  • Any relevant links to previous work, if applicable or available. (VIMEO/YouTube/Website)   
  • Email/letters of commitment from key contributors. (PDF)

If you have any queries on Ardán’s privacy policy you can read it here.   

DEADLINE for applications is Monday, May 11th, at 2 pm GMT

Shortlisted applicants will be called for interview. The interviews will take place at the end of May, so please keep this in mind when applying (note: interview dates will be confirmed closer to the time.)

For any further information on this year’s bursary please email  julie@ardan.ie

This bursary is made possible by support from Galway City Council Arts Office, Galway County Council Arts Office, Fís Éireann/ Screen Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

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