If you are a researcher, there are a number of additional venues you could consider.

Peer-reviewed publications

One possibility to explore is that of submitting your documentary to a peer-reviewed journal. Though academic journals are generally devoted to publishing written articles, there are a number of academic publishers that accept submissions in audio and video formats as well.

For example, the JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to videos about scientific experiments. Similarly, BC Studies (a journal about British Columbia) accepts podcasts as submissions, as does Wildfred Laurier University Press.

If there are no journals whose scope would allow you to submit your documentary as such, you may be able to use clips from the documentary to create a video abstract showcasing the results of your research. Both the BMJ Author Hub and the Taylor & Francis Author Services have advice and guidelines for how to create a video abstract for research.

Film festivals

Film festivals are another way to promote your documentary. There are film festivals devoted to many different subjects, and you may be able to submit your documentary to one that is related to the topic of your documentary.

Some examples of film festivals include:

• The Babel Film Festival is “intended solely for film productions that describe and narrate minorities, in particular linguistic ones”
• The Mother Tongue Film Festival, which “celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity by showcasing films and filmmakers from around the world, highlighting the crucial role languages play in our daily lives”
• The St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, which is devoted to films “directed and/or written by women”
• Spotlight on Academics, which is devoted to “films that are suitable for use in post-secondary classrooms”

Wikipedia has a long list of other film festivals from across the world that may help you to find a relevant festival for your documentary.