UC Berkeley extends short-documentary grant deadline to 13 October

Filmmakers worldwide have extra time to apply for the Mycoskie–UC Berkeley fellowship, which offers up to five short-form grants of $10,000.

The Mycoskie–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Documentary Fellowship has extended its 2026 application deadline to 13 October at 5pm Pacific Time, giving short-documentary filmmakers another opportunity to seek production funding.

The revised deadline replaces the 5 October closing date previously reported by Indie Shorts Mag. The fellowship’s official website now explicitly confirms the extension for both its short-form and feature-length strands.

For shorts, up to five filmmakers can receive as much as $10,000 each for documentaries running 40 minutes or less. The programme focuses on cinematic non-fiction exploring psychedelics through science, policy, business and culture.

Who can apply?

Applications are free and open to individual filmmakers worldwide. Teams should nominate one primary applicant. The proposal must be written in English, and films made in other languages need English subtitles.

Graduate students can apply to the short-form strand with a faculty adviser’s supporting letter. The programme excludes fiction, NGO- or brand-commissioned films and projects already publicly distributed, including through festivals or community screenings.

Applicants may submit one project and cannot enter both the short-form and feature-length strands in the same year. Filmmakers should check the full eligibility guidance before preparing their submission.

What happens next?

Applications go through Submittable, beginning with an eligibility questionnaire. The official application page links to the short-form guidance and submission form; proposals are not accepted by email.

Decisions are expected by December 2026. Selected short-form filmmakers receive their funding upfront and are expected to attend virtual cohort meetings, provide a progress and spending report within six months, and share their finished film with the programme.

With only a few days remaining, the extension is most useful to filmmakers who already have a suitable documentary project in development. The immediate priority is to review eligibility and complete the application before the revised deadline.