Wrapping Up AIDC 2026: Hold True

Held from Monday 2 March to Thursday 5 March at ACMI in Melbourne / Naarm, and officially concluding Thursday 12 March with the completion of a two-day online international marketplace, AIDC 2026 saw a total of 755 Australian and international documentary and factual practitioners take part in a vibrant program of sessions, screenings, marketplace activities and networking.

AIDC’s host venue ACMI – as well as Fed Square venues Zinc, The Edge and Koorie Heritage Trust – welcomed an engaged cross-section of the Australian and international nonfiction screen and audio sector, including creatives, commissioners, distributors, funding bodies, and foundation representatives.

Participants representing 22 countries engaged in a program featuring 118 speakers across 55 sessions, pitches, screenings and events. In addition, 175 projects were pitched across all AIDC initiatives and 522 structured meetings were held during the in-person conference and online international marketplace.

“AIDC 2026 was proud to once again be the gathering place for the documentary and factual sector – to exchange ideas, gather knowledge, make new connections, and unlock opportunities and outcomes for an impressive range of projects, stories and storytellers from across the globe,” said AIDC CEO & Creative Director, Natasha Gadd.

“In an era in which the very foundations of our storytelling practice are increasingly under threat, through our 2026 ‘Hold True’ theme and program, we explored what it means to hold true – to each other, to our creative practice, and to the stories that demand to be told. And most importantly, how we can come together in solidarity, to protect the foundations of our storytelling craft and the sustainability of our sector. 

“Through our industry marketplace program, we connected 175 projects at all stages of  development and production with local and international buyers through 10 marketplace pitches and initiatives. And thanks to our industry partners, this year we unlocked over $400,000 in project and personal development funding, awards and prizes to bolster the sector and drive new projects, which we can’t wait to track as they progress.” 

The AIDC team would like to express genuine gratitude to all the partners, funders, collaborators and delegates who contributed to making AIDC 2026 a stand-out edition.

AIDC 2026 began on Monday 2 March with a rousing First Nations Spotlight session – Documenting Indigenous Icons: Journey Home, David Gulpilil and Emily: I Am Kam, presented by NITV and moderated by Rachel Perkins, followed by program highlights like the Screen Australia-presented Risky Business: Protecting Your Film, Your Team and Yourself; international speaker Spotlight session Adam Bhala Lough and Deepfaking Sam Altman (presented by ACMI), and the session with the highest attendance of the conference, Stories Without Borders: Meet the International Decision Makers at AIDC 2026 (presented by Screen NSW).

Inspired by the 2026 theme, Hold True, further highlights throughout the program included Spotlight sessions featuring international guests like Inverting Surveillance: Geeta Gandbhir and The Perfect Neighbor (presented by VicScreen and Netflix), A World of Wonder with National Geographic, featuring EVP of Content Tom McDonald (presented by National Geographic), Rita Baghdadi: Up Close and Personal (presented by VicScreen); Global Stories with Aloke Devichand and Mindhouse (presented by VicScreen) and The Ventureland Years with John Battsek (presented by Netflix).

Reflecting a high level of delegate interest in the status of (and prospects for) the sector, there was significant engagement with industry-focused panels like State of Play: Sector Sustainability in 2026 and Beyond; The Funding Landscape: Festivals, Funds, Philanthropy (presented by South Australian Film Corporation); Crossing Channels: Collaborations in Broadcast (presented by Screen NSW); Film Festivals & Distribution: the Best (and Worst) Strategies for Feature Documentaries (presented by Screenrights); Driving Change: the Undeniable Power of Impact Producing (presented by Screen Queensland), Fair Play for AI: the Future of Screen Licensing (presented by Screenrights), and State of The Nation – Meet The Screen Agencies.

Accordingly, sessions presented by Australia’s public broadcasters continued to draw large audiences, including SBS panels Genre Mash-Up: How to Land a Hit with SBS, and Oops I Did It Again: How to Get a Returnable Series with SBS; and ABC panels Fearless Ideas: From Pitch to Screen with the ABC, and You Can Ask That: Your Burning Questions Answered by the ABC.

​​ “[AIDC 2026 featured a] great mix of local and international programming, and the creative-led sessions really boosted my energy”

Blayke Hoffman, Producer, Stranger Than Fiction

Delegates also enjoyed craft-oriented sessions like Intolerable Beauty: Innovating Climate Storytelling (presented by Screenwest), Pushing Form in Indigenous Documentary Craft (presented by Telefilm and Indigenous Business Australia), Magnates, Myths and Mystery: Investigating the Stories of Our Times in Audio; and The Sublime Art of the Everyday in Documentary, featuring filmmakers from The Golden Spurtle, Spreadsheet Champions and Flathead.

In addition, sessions focused on innovation and future industry concerns resulted in fascinating and insightful discussions, such as Make it Make Sense! How to Nail Social Media-First Storytelling, featuring nonfiction social media stars Dr Naomi Koh Belic and Dr Esmé Louise James (presented by ACMI); Subscribe Now: Understanding the Creator Economy (presented by Screen Queensland), Creative Innovation, Ethics and Truth in the Age of AI; and Short Cuts: Pathways to Getting Your Short Docs Made (and Seen), featuring commissioners from Al Jazeera and Powerhouse and award-winning filmmakers Ursula Grace Williams and Kieran Satour (presented by VicScreen).

Running in parallel with the main conference program, the ACMI and AIDC-presented Documented screening program also saw four well-attended showings of AIDC 2026-inspired feature documentaries and shorts, including Deepfaking Sam Altman (directed by Adam Bhala Lough), Hold True: Short Films Curated by POV (introduced by Erika Dilday, Executive Director/Executive Producer, American Documentary | POV), Oscar®-nominee Cutting Through Rocks, and 2000 Meters to Andriivka (directed by AIDC 2024 guest speaker Mstyslav Chernov).

The 11th FACTory International Pitching Forum, presented by VicScreen, saw 14 projects with teams representing 16 countries pitch to 22 decision makers across the Central Showcase, New Talent Showcase, and Rough Cut Showcase categories. 

Projects to secure FACTory pitch prizes in the form of international marketplace access and opportunities included: Sisters in War (Australia, Myanmar) – DOK Leipzig Prize and DMZ Docs Prize; All Fixed Up (China, USA) – Sheffield DocFest Networking Prize and Visions du Réel Prize, Our Bodies (South Korea, Japan) – Docs By The Sea Prize, and The Last Rodeo (New Zealand) – Raina Film Festival Distribution Prize; with Saving Tuvalu (Australia, Tuvalu, Germany) and Seahorse School (Australia) both receiving the Doc Edge New Zealand Prize. 

“It was the most inspiring week I’ve had in this industry since the Cannes market in 2022. You’ve made something world class, inspiring, tangible, accessible and brilliant. The outcomes have been incredible for our project and the connections I’ve made feel aligned and meaningful”

Ursula Grace Williams (NZ), Director, The Last Rodeo

AIDC’s curated meetings marketplace, Cut to the Chase, saw 466 meetings arranged for 137 documentary and factual projects with 88 industry decision makers, continuing to leverage access to international executives through the AIDC market’s in-person and online format. 

Cut to the Chase also included three of AIDC 2026’s high-profile partnered pitch initiatives, with 8 projects selected to take part in The Post Lounge Group Doc Pitch, 8 projects in the Shark Island Foundation Feature Docs Pitch, and 7 projects vying for the DocPlay Indie Booster.

Four projects each received a $25,000 share of $100,000 in development funding and a placement in the Shark Island Kangaroo Valley Development Lab from Shark Island Foundation: Unorthodoctor, The Dig, Up to Speed, and Estranged. In addition, FACTory project Saving Tuvalu was also offered a $50,000 production grant. 

Meanwhile, two projects shared in an increased amount of $65,000 worth of investment from The Post Lounge Group, with Hell Has No Fire Escape receiving $15,000 worth of development services across The Post Lounge Group, and Anchorwoman securing $50,000 worth of post-production services from The Post Lounge, plus EP/financing services from Orange Entertainment Co.

The first year of the DocPlay Indie Booster saw the streaming platform provide two independently-produced documentary features with a share of $20,000 to boost their in-cinema theatrical releases: Mosquitoes ($10,000) and The Dig ($10,000).

The 2026 marketplace featured the third year of AIDC’s slate-pitching initiative – The Showroom – which saw 10 production companies pitching multiple projects in development to 14 high-level buyers representing international organisations in a run of 56 meetings.

Capping marketplace activity for the year, a special New Zealand Delegation, supported by the New Zealand Film Commission Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga (NZFC), saw the attendance of eight delegates officially supported by NZFC, accompanied by another four delegates attached to the selected delegates’ projects.

The AIDC 2026 program and attendees continue to reflect the diversity of the Australian documentary and factual community, with women representing 55% of total registered delegates, and over 85 participants in AIDC’s Indigenous Creators Program for First Nations practitioners, curated in 2026 by AIDC First Nations Producers Devina McPherson and Laurrie Mansfield. 

AIDC’s Indigenous Creators Program, supported by Indigenous Business Australia, is now in its eighth year and remains the only program of its type in Australia, programmed specifically by and for First Nations practitioners in documentary and factual. This year’s sessions included a Welcome Event (presented by Indigenous Business Australia and ABC Indigenous) and Yarning Circle (presented by ABC Indigenous), plus The Colleano Heart with Pauline Clague, and Wheel of Yarns, featuring Narelda Jacobs moderating a ‘flipped pitch’ seeing commissioners and funders pitching to producers.  

The 2026 Indigenous Creators Program also saw the return of the Indigenous Creators Pitch, (presented by Indigenous Business Australia), in which three projects pitched live to decision makers seeking Indigenous-led stories competing for a cash prize of $5,000, presented by AIDC. During the 2026 AIDC Awards on the final day of the conference, the cash prize was awarded to Forever Fifteen, pitched by Karla Hart and Amanda Morrison. 

Thanks to philanthropic contributions from 21 production companies, broadcasters, screen industry organisations and individuals to AIDC’s Leading Lights fund, 50 nonfiction practitioners from across Australia were able to attend AIDC for the first time and take part in curated professional development sessions presented by AFTRS. Four projects – The Hustlers, Exile Beyond the Sea, Songlines, and Shiny were also selected for the Leading Lights Pitch, presented by AFTRS and moderated by Screen Australia Head of Documentary Richard Huddleston.

Designed to support emerging and early-career, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, global First Nations, LGBTQIA+, d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse, regional and remote, and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) practitioners, Leading Lights is an established emblem of AIDC’s ongoing commitment to bringing new and diverse nonfiction storytellers into the community.

The sixth annual AIDC Awards were announced at a presentation ceremony on Thursday 5 March at ACMI, hosted by television presenter and journalist, Narelda Jacobs. The projects taking top honours included:

Best Feature Documentary – Yurlu | Country (with a $5,000 cash prize presented by Film Finances)

Best Documentary / Factual Series – Revealed: Death Cap Murders

Best Documentary / Factual Single – Emily: I am Kam

Best Short-Form Documentary – Wieambilla Reconstructed (with a $2,000 cash prize presented by AFTRS)

Best Audio Documentary – Broken Trust

Best Interactive / Immersive Documentary – The World Came Flooding In

As part of the AIDC Awards presentation, two individual $5,000 Southern Light Awards for outstanding contribution to nonfiction screen, digital and/or audio media were presented to two recipients – filmmaker and advocate for documentary, Simon Nasht, and leading WA-based First Nations screen practitioner, Karla Hart.

Although the 2026 conference has ended, registered AIDC delegates can still watch sessions on catch-up until Wednesday 8 May via the AIDC Conference App (sign-in via MY AIDC). 

AIDC will continue to work to support the documentary and factual sector year-round, with another Regionality one-day documentary and factual screen industry event specifically for practitioners in regional areas, another Indigenous Documentary Placement initiative with ABC launching at the end of March, and a new drive for donors for the 2027 Leading Lights Fund.

With a location and dates for AIDC 2027 to be confirmed in the coming months, keep an eye on the AIDC eNews for news and announcements about upcoming programs, developments, and the post-conference survey.

AIDC also thanks its many industry partners – particularly VicScreen, ACMI, Screen Australia, ABC and SBS – without which this year’s event would not have been possible. 

AIDC 2026 ran 2-5 March 2026 at ACMI in Melbourne / Naarm, with an online-only international marketplace 11-12 March 2026. www.aidc.com.au

“I attend events worldwide, and this was truly one of the best in terms of execution and communication.” 

Farhad Meher-Homji, Co-Founder / Head of Strategy, Changer Studios 

Main Image: AIDC 2026 session Global Stories with Aloke Devichand and Mindhouse | Photo: William Hamilton-Coates