Rules differ between countries, between one site and another in the same country, and they change over time. What follows is a way of working rather than legal advice, and the authority is always the body that owns the site or the official body in that country.
He flew nine hours for one film. He arrived at night, slept, and in the morning went to the location he had planned for two months.
He set up the tripod, raised the camera, and a man from the administration came over with one word: "permit?"
He did not know the place needed a permit. Nor who issues it. Nor that it takes two weeks. So his first day ended with not one usable shot, and he spent it filming from outside the wall.
Four kinds of permission people confuse
Before anything, separate them, because each is asked of a different body:
1. Permission to enter the country. Some countries distinguish a visitor on a tourist visa from someone arriving for media work, and may require a particular visa or registration for commercial or journalistic filming. Ask about this before you book, not after.
2. A permit to film at a specific site. The most forgotten one, and it is asked of whoever owns or manages the place.
3. Permission from people. Consent from anyone appearing in the video, an ethical and legal matter both, which we set out in filming other people: how to ask permission and respect their privacy.
4. Permission to fly a drone. An entirely separate calculation, because it answers to the civil aviation authority rather than to whoever owns the site, and its rules change from country to country. The whole of it is in drones abroad: the rules change from country to country.
Permission belongs to the place, not the camera
The rule that saves you a long search: do not look for "filming laws in country X", ask about each site on your list individually. A street may be open while the museum on it needs a form, and a market may be open while the shop inside it has an owner.
The places that need permission in most countries:
- Museums, archaeological sites and nature reserves
- Airports, stations and government facilities
- Bridges, dams and critical infrastructure
- Hospitals and schools
- Malls, enclosed markets and private parks
- Mosques and religious landmarks in some places
- Anywhere with a wall, a gate and a security guard
As for streets and public squares, the default in most countries is that filming is allowed, with many differences around tripods, lighting and crews, which we covered in filming in public places: what to know before you go.
Five steps before you travel
1. Write your list of locations. Five or ten sites by name, not "the old town" but "such-and-such market" and "such-and-such museum".
2. Find who owns each site. A museum has an administration, an archaeological site an authority, a market a municipality or owners. Their official site or account is your source, not a forum post.
3. Write to them at least two weeks ahead. Email beats messaging, because it gives you a document to carry. Some bodies reply the same day, some need a fortnight and a signature, and some charge a fee.
4. Ask locally. A local fixer knows what is not written down: who actually signs, which gate to use, and whether the paper is enough or you need an escort. How to find that person is in the local fixer: who opens doors in a place you don't know.
5. Print whatever arrives. A printed page does what an email on your phone cannot, especially with someone who does not read English or who wants something to take to their manager.
A permission request template
Copy it and adjust; keep it short and clear:
Subject: Request to film at [site name] on [date]
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am [your name], I make short documentaries published on [channel/platform].
I am working on a film about [subject in one line], and I request permission
to film at [site name] on [date] from [time] to [time].
Gear: one camera, a small tripod, a microphone. No additional lighting.
People: [one/two].
I will not film anybody without their consent and will not obstruct visitors.
I am happy to send you the part of the film relating to the site before publication.
Attached: a copy of my ID/passport, and a link to previous work.
Thank you for your time,
[name] · [phone] · [email]
Three things make a request succeed: being specific (site, date, hours), being small (a camera and a tripod, not a crew), and giving the body something (a copy of the video, or a credit).
What to carry with you always
- The permission printed, plus an offline copy on your phone
- Your passport or ID
- The name and number of whoever replied to you
- A copy of each person's consent if it was written
- A local number to call if there is a misunderstanding
If somebody stops you and you have no permit
Stop filming immediately and lower the camera. Arguing with it raised turns a small matter into a problem.
Be friendly and plain. Say who you are, what you are filming and for whom. Clarity settles most cases in two minutes.
Ask one question: "who do I get permission from?" That turns the moment from refusal into guidance, and you may leave with a name and an appointment.
Do not delete your footage on your own initiative, do not hand over your card, and ask for the official body if it is required of you.
Write down what happened in a note: the place, the time, the name of whoever stopped you. That helps if you return or if you are asked.
An important distinction: "forbidden" and "needs a form"
Much of what you are told is "forbidden" actually means "it needs permission and none of us can give it". The difference is large: the first is an ending, the second a beginning.
So always ask: is the refusal a rule, or is permission obtained from a higher body? Most doors that look shut open with one question to the right person.
Hotels, restaurants and homes
These are private property, and permission there is usually verbal, and forgotten within a month. So put it in writing, even as a short message: "thank you for allowing me to film at [place] today; the video will be published on [platform]." A message the owner answers with "fine" protects you from a takedown request after publication.
Time and cost
Plan two weeks before travel for paperwork, and put a line in your budget for fees and escorts, which is the most forgotten item in travel film budgets.
Most important: do not make your whole film depend on one site that needs a form. Keep two open alternatives, so the whole trip does not collapse on one sentence from a security guard.
And before all of it, learn what is genuinely worth knowing about the place, which we gathered in what to know about a place before you travel to film there.