The International Documentary Film Festival of Uruguay began in Atlántida, the summer retreat of Alberto Mántaras—one of the pioneers of Uruguayan documentary filmmaking—and a place of refuge for Pablo Neruda. It is one of the first seaside resorts east of Montevideo, located just a few kilometers from the airport and offering ideal infrastructure for hosting a festival. A beautiful coastal town with a beach and a historic hotel that once welcomed notable figures such as Gardel, García Lorca, Mirtha Legrand, and many other celebrities of the 1930s.
Year after year, the festival expanded throughout the entire country, driven by the desire to reach more people, especially in Uruguay’s interior, where the best documentaries in the world do not always arrive. Public television channels support us, but it is never enough—particularly considering that around 600 films are submitted each year, and we only have the capacity to program the 100 that are selected.
This creates a double commitment: on the one hand, to the filmmakers who place their hopes in being part of Atlantidoc’s program; and on the other, to a diverse audience that must leave the comfort of their homes to attend a screening and watch a documentary we have selected, trusting our judgment—always guided by the pursuit of formal and narrative quality. One day we hope to have a streaming platform that will allow us to reach audiences more directly, more comfortably, and more effectively.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
In this part of the world, excellent documentaries are produced, yet we face challenges in theatrical and festival programming. This is why we created Atlantidoc in 2006: a festival that seeks to give documentaries the recognition they deserve.
Since then, it has grown every year, expanding across the whole country and throughout South America. With professional juries, significant awards, and high-level training programs, Atlantidoc is an international festival inspired by decentralization.
Our experience in festival organization dates back to 1982, with notable achievements such as Divercine, which ran for 30 years, and the First Animation Film Festival of Uruguay in 2005. We draw inspiration from the Documentary and Experimental Film Festival of SODRE from the 1960s.
Since the very first edition, we have invited to Uruguay the best documentary filmmakers we could bring—many of them outstanding—resulting in clear and lasting benefits for documentary filmmaking in the region. Uruguayan cinema cannot exist without co-production, and this has been at the core of our work since the beginning.
