AIDC Presents Pitch Prizes At APAC Documentary Forums Docs By The Sea, DMZ Docs Industry, and CCDF

During September, AIDC staff participated in three pitching forums and marketplaces held by AIDC cultural partners Docs by the Sea (Bali, Indonesia), DMZ Docs Industry (Goyang, South Korea), and the CNEX Chinese Doc Forum (CCDF) (Taipei, Taiwan). 

AIDC presented pitch prizes to three projects at the forums, offering complimentary AIDC 2027 registration and a fee waiver for FACTory project submission. 

AIDC’s outreach and engagement with documentary forums and events across the Asia Pacific region aligns with our goals to unlock opportunities for collaboration and co-production with Australian producers, and grow the representation of projects by diverse APAC neighbours in the AIDC marketplace.

‘QUIET FLOWS THE RIVER BHERI’ SELECTED FOR AIDC AWARD AT DOCS BY THE SEA

Held in Bali, Indonesia from 6-9 September, Docs by the Sea 2026 held five labs and a pitching forum featuring 36 documentary projects representing 23 countries.

AIDC CEO / Creative Director Natasha Gadd participated as a decision maker in the forum and awarded the AIDC-Docs by the Sea Award to Quiet Flows the River Bheri (Nepal) by director Rajan Kathet and producer Jewel Maranan.

Honed in Docs by the Sea’s Storytelling Lab, the film tells the story of a group of Dalit friends who braved an upper-caste village to pursue an inter-caste love. They returned as bodies, pulled from the Bheri River, sparking a movement for equality in Nepal.

The AIDC-Docs by the Sea Award supports a complimentary AIDC All Access Pass (online or in person) for two project representatives and a fee waiver for submitting projects to AIDC’s FACTory International Pitching Forum.

‘TONGUES OF FIRE’ SELECTED FOR AIDC AWARD AT DMZ DOCS INDUSTRY

Held in Goyang, South Korea from 11-14 September, the eighth year of DMZ Docs’ Industry program saw 15 projects pitched across two major Production Pitch categories – Korea and Asia. 

AIDC Head of Marketing & Communications / APAC Engagement Lead Chris Harms attended as a guest of DMZ Docs Industry and presented the AIDC-DMZ Docs Award to Tongues of Fire (Philippines), by director Alyx Ayn Arumpac (Aswang, 2019), who received IDFA Bertha funding in 2022 to develop the project. 

With project details to remain confidential at this time due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, the film documents a rare reckoning in a nation torn between denial and accountability. 

The AIDC-DMZ Docs Award supports a complimentary AIDC All Access Pass (online or in person) for two project representatives and a fee waiver for submitting projects to AIDC’s FACTory International Pitching Forum.

‘GOODBYE, YIWU’ SELECTED FOR AIDC AWARD AT CCDF

Held in Taipei, Taiwan from 18-20 September, the 17th CNEX Chinese Documentary Forum (CCDF) saw 19 projects take part in the forum pitch.

AIDC Industry Manager Natalie May attended the forum as a guest of CNEX and presented the AIDC-CCDF Award to Goodbye, Yiwu (China / USA) by first-time director Elena Li-cun Xiang.

The film follows the director’s return to her market hometown of Yiwu to film a Pakistani boy and his working mother after a lifetime apart from her own mother. As her camera reveals the hidden sacrifices of motherhood, she must also confront the painful truth behind her own left behind childhood.

The AIDC-CCDF Award supports a complimentary AIDC All Access Pass (online or in person) for two project representatives and a fee waiver for submitting projects to AIDC’s FACTory International Pitching Forum.

A number of prior AIDC award-winners at Docs by the Sea, DMZ Docs Industry and CCDF have gone on to be successfully selected by AIDC’s international assessment committee and pitched at The FACTory.

Pitched at The FACTory 2025

• The Myth of Monsters (dir. Beatrice Leong, prod. Panuksmi Hardjowirogo, M’GO Films, Singapore / Malaysia) – AIDC-Docs by the Sea Award 2024
• Restless Farewell (dir. Nan Yang & Peiyun He, prod. Shuhao Tse, China) – AIDC-CCDF Award 2024
• Umbrellas of the Acrobats (dir. Mukesh Subramaniam, prod. Ponvishal Chidambaranathan, India) – AIDC-DMZ Docs Industry Award 2024

Pitched at The FACTory 2026

• Home, Our Home – pitched as Our Bodies (dir. Bora Lee-Kil, prod. Sona Jo & Emi Ueyama, South Korea / Japan) – AIDC-DMZ Docs Industry Award 2025
• All Fixed Up (dir. Hao Zhou, China / USA) – AIDC-CCDF Award 2025

As AIDC Cultural Partners, both DMZ Docs and Docs by the Sea provide reciprocal pitch prizes for projects pitched in The FACTory at AIDC, opening up additional pathways in the APAC documentary industry network for exposure and support. 

Awarded after The FACTory 2025

• The Myth of Monsters (dir. Beatrice Leong, prod. Panuksmi Hardjowirogo, M’GO Films, Singapore / Malaysia) – DMZ Docs Industry FACTory Prize 2025
• Restless Farewell (dir. Nan Yang & Peiyun He, prod. Shuhao Tse, China) – Docs by the Sea FACTory Prize 2025

Awarded after The FACTory 2026

• Sisters in War (dir. Lay Thida, prod. Maya Newell, Myanmar / Australia) – DMZ Docs Industry FACTory Prize 2026 
• Home, Our Home – pitched as Our Bodies (dir. Bora Lee-Kil, prod. Sona Jo & Emi Ueyama, South Korea / Japan) – Docs by the Sea FACTory Prize 2026

AIDC is proud to continue its efforts to expand opportunities for project exposure and the development of co-production relationships through its established APAC market partnerships. Via marketplace attendance and pitch prizes, AIDC is working towards greater regional collaboration and exchange of ideas and market knowledge for the benefit of documentary filmmakers, wherever they originate.  

• Learn more about Docs by the Sea
• Learn more about DMZ Docs Industry
• Learn more about the CNEX Chinese Documentary Forum (CCDF)

Main Image: Goodbye, Yiwu director Elena Li-cun Xiang and AIDC Industry Manager Natalie May at CCDF-17 | Image courtesy CCDF