VDP2025
Call for Southeast Asian Short Documentaries

Theme: Living “Deviance”

“Deviants.” From illicit drug users, sex workers, gamblers, cross-dressers, political rebels, to religious heretics. Those labelled “deviant” live on the margins – navigating a complex web of legal norms, moral codes, gender conventions, political authority, and cultural practices. Yet “deviance” isn’t inherent – society constructs it through power, shifting across time and place. 

What if the real outsider isn’t the “deviant,” but the judging society itself?
In what sociopolitical contexts has the “deviant” label been imposed?
How do the “deviants” shape their worldviews and knowledge?
Who enacts “de-deviance”—resisting the labelling system?
How does society react to such “de-deviance”? 
How do the “deviants” transform society?

This year, the Visual Documentary Project (VDP) invites short documentaries that problematise the label “deviant” in Southeast Asia. From those marginalised, criminalised, to those who pursue de-deviance through how they live, act, or speak. Let us visualize and reflect upon the societal boundaries shifting or being contested in this diverse and dynamic region.

Chika YAMADA
VDP2025 Chair

About Application

Requirements to submit documentaries are as follows

1. Applicants must be citizens of Southeast Asia or Japan.
2. Documentaries should be no longer than 30 minutes.

Applications

Please read the application guidelines thoroughly and submit your entry via the online form below before the deadline.

Application Deadline: Sunday, November 30, 2025

Conditions for uploading films

(a) Films must be submitted in a format supported by YouTube or Vimeo.
– Suggested format: frame size 1920×1080, file format MPEG, frame rate 23.98
(b) Films must be produced in accordance with their purposes and not defame the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS).
(c) Applicants should make sure they have permission from any subjects that appear in the movies.
(d) Films that are uploaded should not infringe upon the rights or interests of personal or organizational copyright holders.
– Any background music (BGM) included in films must be copyright free or have the prior permission of copyright holders to use in said films.
– For any images from cartoons, literature, television or films, applicants must make sure that copyright has been transferred from those that own them.

Documentaries should include English subtitles.

Translation and subtitling is the responsibility of applicants.
*For the selected documentaries, we require film (without subtitles) and subtitle data to be submitted by requested dates to meet translation embedding schedules.
*Selected documentaries will be given Japanese subtitles by VDP.
*Selected documentaries will be screened in their original languages with both Japanese and English subtitles. However, documentaries that are in English will only have Japanese subtitles added and vice versa.

About the Selection Committee

VDP 2025 selection committee will select successful documentaries.

FYI: Screening Committee Members Past and Present

Selection Result Notification

・Selected applicants will be notified of the selection results by mid-January, 2026 via e-mail.
・Selected films will be screened at an online screening event in 2026 organized by VDP. Details of the online screening event will be determined later in consultation with the directors.
・The directors of the selected films will be invited to Kyoto, Japan in 2026. Visits to Kyoto will be arranged according to each director’s schedule. Travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the project.
・There will be opportunities to have your film screened at other film festivals in cooperation with our project. (Recent examples: Kyoto International Film Festival, Cambodia International Film Festival, etc.)

Other

・The copyright remains with the original copyright holders of the documentary at all times.
・Selected films will be archived on CSEAS’ website with the director’s consent. This will be made available to loan free of charge to applicants for non-commercial education purposes screenings within Japan only. Copyright of the work remains with the applicant.
・The organizers will not fund any requests for production funds, the purchase of recording equipment or editing software.

Data protection

The information that you provide when applying will be used for the purpose of film selection by the organizer. Your personal details will only be used in line with the standards of the organizers. We will not sell or disclose your details to third parties for commercial or other reasons.

Contact

VDP Secretariat, Center for Southeast Asian Studies　
Kyoto University
46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida Sakyo-ku,
Kyoto, 606-8501 Japan
TEL: +81-75−753−9620
E-mail: vdp[at]cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp
*Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays (10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. JST)
*Office closes for summer vacation from August 9 to August 18.

VDP2025 Poster Usage

PDF file available for download below. Please use as is without modification.