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AIDC 2027: 8-11 MARCH | ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, STATE LIBRARY OF NSW, BOTANIC GARDENS OF SYDNEY | ONLINE INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE: 23-24 MARCH
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Applications are open for the AIDC 2027 Leading Lights program - celebrating 10 years! 🌟✨
Leading Lights is AIDC’s philanthropic initiative enabling emerging and diverse Australian documentary/factual practitioners to attend AIDC for the first time, with all places generously funded by industry donors.
Since 2018, over 356 emerging and early career practitioners, First Nations, LGBTQIA+, d/Deaf, disabled, neurodiverse, regional and CALD creators have been welcomed into the industry through Leading Lights.
Recipients receive a complimentary Sessions Pass to AIDC 2027 in Sydney, plus access to exclusive professional development activities, co-presented with @aftrs 🎬
“I came away with stronger connections, clearer direction, and real momentum.” - Martin Stringer, 2026 Leading Light
📅 Applications close Sunday 6 December 2026
Are you an emerging and/or diverse Australian nonfiction storyteller who hasn’t attended AIDC before? This one’s for you.
Link in bio to apply. 💛
Photos by @will.hamiltoncoates @ned_mansfield
Submissions are open for the 2027 AIDC Awards! 🏆 🎬
The only dedicated awards for Australian documentary and factual, now in their 8th year - and with a refreshed set of categories for 2027.
🏆 Best Feature Documentary
🏆 Best Documentary Series (new)
🏆 Best Factual Series (new)
🏆 Best Documentary / Factual Single
🏆 Best Short Documentary
🏆 Best Audio Documentary
🏆 Best Digital First Documentary (new)
New this year: The series award has been split into two distinct categories for the first time, and the new Best Digital First Documentary category expands eligibility to include documentaries for platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, as well as interactive and immersive works.
Winners will be announced at the AIDC 2027 Awards ceremony, closing night Thursday 11 March in Sydney. 🎉
📅 Submissions close 22 November (late deadline 25 November)
Link in bio to find out more and submit 🔗
🎬 🏆 New assessment committee members and international pitch prizes announced for The FACTory International Pitching Forum at AIDC 2027!
We’re welcoming two new members to The FACTory assessment committee: Chloe Walters-Wallace (Director of Regional Initiatives, @firelight_media, USA) and Josie Mason-Campbell (Producer, Independent, AUS), joining previously announced assessors Jason Ryle (@tiff_net), Margje de Koning of (@moviesthatmatterfestival), Gunny Hyoung (EBS/EIDF) and Zoe Stinson (@tvfinternational).
All participating FACTory projects will also be in the running for international pitch prizes - with three confirmed so far:
🏆 @docsbythesea 2027 FACTory Prize (Indonesia)
🏆 @dmzdocs Industry 2027 FACTory Prize (South Korea)
🏆 @sheffdocfest Networking Award 2027 (UK)
Applications for The FACTory Central Showcase, New Talent Showcase and Rough Cut Showcase are open now, presented by @screennsw and set to take place at the Art Gallery of New South Wales as part of AIDC 2027 - 8–11 March in Sydney.
📅 Regular deadline: Sunday 1 November
📅 Late deadline: Sunday 8 November
Link in bio to apply and find out more. ✨
A reminder that the window to submit an official expression of interest (EOI) for AIDC 2027 will close this Sunday 4 October (11:59pm AEDT).
We are welcoming session topics and ideas from across the documentary & factual sector, as well as proposals to participate as a speaker, moderator or session producer.
We are especially encouraging submissions that address:
💡 Creative expression and new ground in storytelling form
💡 The changing role of journalism in documentary
💡 Future funding and financing models
💡 Discoverability, audience viewing patterns and projections
💡 Archives: access, preservation, and digitisation
💡 New content strategies for social media and online platforms
💡 AI and its implications for documentary ethics and production
💡 The evolving legal landscape - i.e. ownership, copyright, and litigation
💡 Technological innovations across all stages of production and distribution
💡 The next chapter for streaming and broadcast
💡 Censorship, interference and disinformation
💡 Wellbeing, duty of care and field-building
💡 Sustainability, climate and impact
🔗 Check link in bio to find out more and to make a submission.
#AIDC #AIDCD2027
Photo by @melissa.butters_
During September, AIDC was proud to participate in three major documentary forums across the Asia Pacific - presenting pitch prizes at @docsbythesea (Bali, Indonesia), @dmzdocs Industry (Goyang, South Korea), and the @cnex.tw Chinese Documentary Forum (CCDF) in Taipei, Taiwan. 🌏🎬
Our engagement with documentary forums across the APAC region reflects our ongoing commitment to building collaboration and co-production opportunities between Australian producers and our diverse regional neighbours - and growing the representation of APAC projects in AIDC’s international marketplace.
The three AIDC pitch prize recipients were:
🏆 `Quiet Flows the River Bheri` (Nepal) — dir. Rajan Kathet, prod. Jewel Maranan | AIDC–Docs by the Sea Award
🏆 `Tongues of Fire` (Philippines) — dir. Alyx Ayn Arumpac | AIDC–DMZ Docs Award
🏆 `Goodbye Yiwu` (China / USA) — dir. Elena Li-cun Xiang | AIDC–CCDF Award
Each winning project receives a complimentary AIDC All Access Pass for two project representatives and a fee waiver for submitting to The FACTory International Pitching Forum, taking place as part of AIDC 2027 in Sydney.
Prior AIDC award-winners from these forums have gone on to pitch at The FACTory, with recent alumni including `Home, Our Home` (pitched as `Our Bodies`) (South Korea), `All Fixed Up` (China / USA), `Restless Farewell` (China), and `The Myth of Monsters` (Malaysia).
Read more about the awards, the winning projects, and AIDC`s APAC cultural partnerships at the link in our bio.
Main image:
📷 Goodbye Yiwu director Elena Li-cun Xiang and AIDC Industry Manager Natalie May at CCDF-17 | Image courtesy CCDF
