About
A small, opinionated guide to opportunities for emerging artists.
What is this?
opencall.fyi is a free, curated directory of open calls for emerging artists. We aggregate residencies, fellowships, grants, and competitions across three sectors: Film & Moving Image, Visual Arts, and Criticism.
Every listing is verified, described in plain English, and tagged with practical details: whether accommodation is provided, if travel is covered, whether you need a degree. No paywalls. No sponsored placements. Just the good stuff.
Who is it for?
If you're an emerging artist, filmmaker, writer, or critic trying to find your next opportunity, this is for you. We built it for people who are talented but don't have a gallery, agent, or institution doing this research on their behalf.
Whether you're fresh out of art school or a few years into your practice, whether you're looking for a funded residency abroad or a grant to finish your short film, we want to make the search less daunting and more equitable.
How does it work?
We research and verify opportunities from trusted sources: institutional websites, artist networks, open-call aggregators, and word of mouth. Each listing is reviewed for accuracy before it goes live.
You can browse all opportunities, filter by sector or type, and view deadlines on the calendar. Found something you like? Use the tracker to bookmark it and follow your progress, all stored locally in your browser, nothing shared.
Our Field Notes section features first-hand accounts from artists who've been through the application process, so you can learn from real experiences before you apply.
A note on ethos
We believe the arts sector should be more transparent. Application processes shouldn't be mysterious. Information about funding and opportunities shouldn't be gatekept behind networks of privilege.
This project is maintained with care and kept free. If you've found it useful, the best thing you can do is tell another artist about it.
Who's behind this?
Hi, I'm Will. I built opencall.fyi because I spent years googling the same things: "artist residencies with funding," "emerging filmmaker grants," "how to apply for Berlinale Talents." I figured if I was doing this research anyway, I might as well make it useful for everyone.
My own path through the open call world has included Berlinale Talents, the European Film Market Startups programme, Locarno's REAL Academy (a documentary summer school in the Swiss Alps), FEFF Campus, Locarno Basecamp, GoCritic, and the Zinemaldia Startup Challenge at San Sebastián. I've also been a scholarships coordinator for Club Alpbach London, helping people access the European Forum Alpbach.
Every opportunity listed here is one I'd recommend to a friend. That's the bar.
Running a programme?
If you run a residency, fellowship, grant, or competition for emerging artists and would like to be listed on opencall.fyi, we'd love to hear from you.
Get in touch at will.rowan.film@gmail.com
