The International Documentary Association (IDA) has opened Early Bird registration for Getting Real ’26, the seventh edition of its flagship conference, returning July 20 to 23 in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood, with a parallel virtual program for global audiences.
Held biennially, Getting Real has grown into the largest peer-to-peer gathering of documentary practitioners in North America. The 2026 edition marks a decade of the conference, bringing together filmmakers, funders, distributors, and industry leaders for four days of conversation focused on both the business and art of nonfiction storytelling.
Conference Theme and Focus
This year’s theme centers on the widening gap between current industry structures and an expanding landscape of documentary practice. Through this lens, the conference will ask who and what documentary work is in service to, and what it will take to uphold that commitment in a rapidly shifting field.
Programming will be organized across three strands, Investment, Inspiration, and Impact, creating space for conversations that span creative, financial, and social dimensions of the work.
Program and Participation
Designed as a collaborative think tank, Getting Real provides a forum for the field to engage in constructive dialogue, build lasting relationships, and confront the ethical, creative, sustainability, production, and distribution challenges shaping documentary today.
Historically, the conference has brought together major industry players, including streaming platforms and funding bodies, alongside independent filmmakers from around the world. These exchanges range from press-embargoed presentations where industry leaders share private data to more intimate sessions where filmmakers speak candidly about their experiences.
Location and Access
The 2026 conference will take place across three venues in Little Tokyo, the Union Center for the Arts, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Japanese Cultural and Community Center, all within walking distance and accessible via level sidewalks. In addition to in-person attendance, most sessions will be livestreamed, with recordings available after the event, supporting broader accessibility for participants worldwide.
Attendees can expect participatory workshops that challenge traditional power dynamics, opportunities to exchange ideas and best practices, and sessions designed to help the field navigate both immediate pressures and long-term transformation.
Participant Experience
Past participants consistently point to the conference’s openness and sense of community. Filmmaker Thanh Tran described the experience as “incredible,” noting the generosity of fellow filmmakers and the clarity of communication throughout the event.
Another attendee described Getting Real as “a communal event in the best sense,” where industry leaders and emerging voices are welcomed on equal footing, and where conversations feel “genuine, honest, and human.”
With expanded capacity following a sold-out 2024 edition, Getting Real ’26 arrives at a moment when the documentary field is actively rethinking its structures, priorities, and future. The conference offers a space not only to reflect on those shifts, but to shape what comes next.
Support from the Golden Globe Foundation helps advance the International Documentary Association’s educational programs, which provide training and professional development opportunities for filmmakers while creating accessible pathways for audiences to engage with documentary storytelling. Through initiatives like Getting Real, IDA continues to foster a connected, informed, and inclusive global documentary community.
See all pass options and details here.
Member discount login: IDA Member Portal
More information: https://documentary.org/gettingreal26
Questions? Email: conference@documentary.org.
