The Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), the market of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), will present Doc Square 2026 from Oct. 10-13, bringing together eight partner organizations from five countries to connect Asian documentary creators with industry professionals.
Launched last year, the program introduces documentary projects still in production across Asia and offers guidance on production support and distribution strategy.
Doc Square’s centerpiece, the Documentary WIP Showcase, runs through the Asian Cinema Fund’s Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund alongside partner organizations from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines. Newstapa Foundation and Japan’s J-Docs Hub join as new partners this year, alongside returning partners Taiwan Docs, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency, the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, Docs by the Sea and the Film Development Council of the Philippines. Sixteen works-in-progress documentaries will pitch to festival programmers, sales companies and distributors on Oct. 10 and 11, building networks toward completion and eventual release.
Two new prizes debut alongside the showcase. The Impact Asia Award will go to three projects, each receiving $5,000, while the Newstapa Award gives one project KRW10 million ($7,400) along with a chance for a 60-minute cut to stream on Newstapa Foundation’s website and YouTube channel. Winners will be named at the ACFM Awards Ceremony on Oct. 13.
