2023 AIDC Awards Nominees & Winners

See below for full details of the nominees and winners acknowledged at the 2023 AIDC Awards.

We wish to thank the 2023 Awards Jury and Awards Pre-Selection Committee, and proudly acknowledge the support of our 2023 AIDC Awards partners, Film Finances, AFTRS, Artisan Post Group and Deakin Motion Lab.

 

2023 Best Feature Documentary Nominees

Clean (aka The Cleaning Company)
2022 | Walking Fish Productions & Good Thing Productions

Trauma cleaners clean spaces that no one else will touch – hoarder sites, meth-labs, murder scenes, deaths and suicides. They clean the homes of some of society’s most vulnerable people – the neglected, the lonely, the addicted, and the mentally unwell. When illness forces her away from her beloved trauma cleaning business, Sandra Pankhurst faces up to her traumatic past and begins a search for her natural mother. Meanwhile, her workers approach this difficult work with camaraderie and humour, bringing hope to their clients despite carrying trauma of their own. “Clean” (otherwise known as “The Cleaning Company”) shows us that life is more fragile than we might think, but there is hope and reassurance in human connection.

Director: LACHLAN MCLEOD | Producers: DAVID ELLIOT-JONES, CHARLOTTE WHEATON

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River
2021 | STRANGER THAN FICTION FILMS, ARROW MEDIA

Throughout history, rivers have shaped our landscapes and our journeys; flowed through our cultures and dreams. RIVER takes its audience on a journey through space and time; spanning six continents, and drawing on extraordinary contemporary cinematography, including satellite filming, the film shows rivers on scales and from perspectives never seen before. Its union of image, music and sparse, poetic script create a film that is both dream-like and powerful, honouring the wildness of rivers but also recognising their vulnerability. A profound cinematic and musical reflection on how rivers have shaped both the planet’s elaborate landscapes and all human existence.

Key Creatives: JENNIFER PEEDOM, JO-ANNE McGOWAN, JOSEPH NIZETI, JOHN SMITHSON

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Wash My Soul In The River's Flow (Winner)
2022 | Enigma Machine in association with the Shark Island Institute

First Nations artists Archie Roach (AC) and Ruby Hunter tell their truth in song and spoken word. In 2004, Hunter and Roach, at the peak of their artistic power, created with Paul Grabowsky and the Australian Art Orchestra, ‘Kura Tungar: Songs from the River’— in which they told their life stories. Staged when the Australian government had not yet apologised to the Stolen Generations – the concert is regarded as a powerful act of reconciliation through collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists. Hunter and Roach’s profoundly moving experiences—about being stolen as children, finding each other as teenagers, recovering from alcoholism and returning to their majestic lands—is a cinematic celebration of love, survival and triumph.
Director/Writer: PHILIPPA BATEMAN | Producers: ARCHIE ROACH (AC), KATE HODGES, PHILIPPA BATEMAN | Executive Producers: IAN DARLING and EMMA DONOVAN

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Because We Have Each Other
2022 | Arenamedia

An intimate documentary five years in the making, ‘Because We Have Each Other’ chronicles the life of Janet and Buddha and their five adult children. It’s a story of tenderness and turbulence, fragility and family, loss and love – following a neurodiverse family on the working-class fringe. With too many pets and a whole lot of bills to pay, they’re dreaming of bigger futures in a society that refuses to see them. Life has been hard, and blended families can be messy. But amidst the chaos, their love is as real as it is unconventional. At times deeply funny, this wondrous film examines the hopes and heartbreaks of one family as they invite us into their extraordinary home.

Director: SARI BRAITHWAITE | Producer: CHLOE BRUGALE

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Franklin
2022 | Rock Island Bend Productions Pty Ltd

Eighth-generation Tasmanian and environmentalist Oliver Cassidy embarks on a life-changing solo rafting trip down the beautiful yet remote Franklin River. His goal is to retrace his late father’s 14-day expedition to attend the blockade that helped to save the World-Heritage listed national park from being destroyed by a huge hydroelectric dam project in the early 80s. Featuring never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with key players such as Bob Brown and Uncle Jim Everett, the eight-year-long ‘Franklin campaign’ is revealed as the most significant environmental protest in Australia’s history; an inspiring example of the power of nonviolent direct action to bring about lasting change. Physically challenged beyond his limits, Oliver’s journey is one of healing and deeper understanding as he searches for the right way to say ‘goodbye’ to his father.

Key Creatives: CHRIS KAMEN, KASIMIR BURGESS, OLIVER CASSIDY, ANNIE VENABLES, CLAIRE SMITH, NATASHA PINCUS

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2023 Best Documentary / Factual Series Nominees

Great Southern Landscapes
2022 | MINT PICTURES IN ASSOCIATION WITH MAGDALENE MEDIA

Great Southern Landscapes follows art lover Rachel Griffiths as she explores some of Australia’s most iconic landscapes and the untold personal, social and cultural stories behind them. Venturing to the exact spot where the artist placed their easel to capture their interpretation of our landscape, Griffiths meets people along the way who unlock hidden secrets, reveals fascinating socio-political and environmental dramas playing out at the time and questions what this iconic landscape said about us then and now. It’s a mix of fun and factual, archive and art, travel and travelling back through time, celebrating Albert Namatjira, Clarice Beckett, John Olsen, Arthur Streeton, Eugene Von Guerard and Narelle Autio.

Key Creatives: RACHEL GRIFFITHS, DAN GOLDBERG, ADAM KAY

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Stuff The British Stole
2022 | Wooden Horse, Wildbear Entertainment, Cream Productions

There has never been a global power quite like the British Empire. At its peak, it spanned the globe and ruled millions. Its legacy lives in everything from our laws to our language. This is the story of that empire, told through its loot. Today, museums and galleries across the UK and the world are filled with artworks, jewels and priceless relics seized during the reign of the empire. They usually come with polite plaques. The truth usually isn’t so polite. Walkley-winning journalist, Marc Fennell, unravels the twisting mysteries behind those objects  – and meets those who want them back. 

Creator & Writer: MARC FENNELL | Series Producer: KATE PAPPAS | Executive Producers: RICHARD FINLAYSON, KATE HARRISON, ALAN ERSON

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The Australian Wars (Winner)
2022 | Blackfella Films Pty Ltd

There are more than ten thousand monuments across the country that honour the war dead. But what of the bloody battles fought on our home soil, in our longest-running war that established the Australian nation? Filmmaker, Rachel Perkins, journeys across the country to give voice to the story of The Australian Wars. Fought on our home soil, as the colonial frontier pushed forward, and First Nations people resisted – this is the story of our longest and perhaps most defining war that established the Australian nation. A groundbreaking three-part documentary series shows that once given voice, it will change the narrative of our nation. 

Key Creatives: RACHEL PERKINS, DARREN DALE, JACOB HICKEY

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2023 Best Documentary / Factual Single Nominees

Still We Rise (Winner)
2022 | TAMARIND TREE PICTURES

In 1972, activists erected an Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns opposite Parliament House. Fifty years on, this archival documentary takes a bold dive into a year of incendiary protest and revolutionary change for First Nations people. With a First Nations lens, Director John Harvey has interrogated hours of archive to celebrate the activists who fought so hard to inspire generations to come. Featuring powerful speeches from Paul Coe, Chicka Dixon, Gary Foley, Bobbi Sykes, and Denis Walker, the epic poetry of Oodgeroo Noonuccal, the music of Worimi composer Leon Rodgers and many celebrated First Nations performers like Miiesha, King Stingray and Dan Sultan, ‘Still We Rise’ captures the urgency, visceral anger, and defiance of those seeking change and the urgency of their activism resonates across 50 years to our own contemporary reality.

Producer: ANNA GRIEVE | Writer/Director: JOHN HARVEY | Composer: LEON RODGERS | Editor: PATRICK MCCABE

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I'll Be Frank
2022 | Studio Dropped

Guided by the animated memories of his Opa, a young Australian jewish man is taken on a journey through Nazi Germany to realise his heritage. He sets out to try to understand the life behind the pages – 80 years after his grandfather fled Germany. When his research leads him down a dark path, he is forced to confront the trauma that has lay buried under the surface of his family’s history, and to understand the significance of his new, little burgundy passport. 

Director/Editor: AARON LUCAS | Producers: ELOISE WALKER, CHRISTINA SCHOEFISCH | Lead Animator ED SMITH | Director of Photography: STEPHEN KORYTKO

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Australia Uncovered: Kids Raising Kids
2022 | Only Human Productions

Exclusive access inside a one-of-a-kind-high school for teen parents, who must find their way through a complex system and overcome many challenges to make it to graduation and a new future. “Kids Raising Kids” takes audiences inside CC Cares at Canberra College – a unique school for teenage parents – but our characters’ lessons are not confined to the classroom. Many students are single mothers, some are overcoming family trauma, drug dependency, and all are navigating a complex system. What unites them is a will to transform their lives – to get an education, stay on the right side of the law, and be the best parents they can be.

Director/Writer/Producer: PATRICK ABBOUD | DOP: DANIEL HARTLEY-ALLEN | Producer: MARIE MAROUN | Executive Producer: SALLY AITKEN | SBS Head of Factual: JOSEPH MAXWELL | SBS Commissioning Editor: GEORGINA DAVIES

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2023 Best Short-Form Documentary Nominees

Eden Alone Surpasses Thee (Winner)
2022 | Wide Angle Tasmania, Tom Chapman Film Pty Ltd

In one of Australia’s most remote and disadvantaged areas, a Tasmanian farmer takes it upon himself to provide opportunities for local youth. Jarred by the loss of his closest friend, he begins to mentor at-risk local youth. In an area renowned for its poverty, low literacy and high suicide rates, Stafford Heres is determined to provide opportunities for kids who have few. “Eden Alone Surpasses Thee” explores his relationship with the land, loss and the young men he takes under his wing.

Director: TOM CHAPMAN | DOP: GABRIEL MORRISON | Music: FINN CLARKE | Editor: GERI DOCHERTY

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The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone
2022 | Closer Productions

Spanning nineteen years, “The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone” takes us into the world of Georgie, an Australian transgender teen, as she helps change laws, affirms her gender and finds her voice. Made in collaboration with Georgie herself, this is the story of a childhood under siege and a loving family who stood strong behind their daughter, offering an undeniable case for the agency of transgender children and teenagers to make their own decisions about their gender identity. As Georgie emerges into adulthood, she can finally imagine, hope and dream of her future self.

Key Creatives: MAYA NEWELL, GEORGIE STONE, SOPHIE HYDE, LISA SHERRARD, MATT BATE

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Regenerating Australia
2022 | Regen Studios

A short hybrid-documentary set on New Year’s eve 2029 featuring real journalists, citizens, politicians and business leaders, ‘Regenerating Australia’ constructs an authentic vision for the future by highlighting the best solutions that could lead us to a safer, brighter future by 2030. A news anchor looks back at the decade-that-was; showing how Australia transitioned to a fairer, cleaner, and more community-centred economy. Each news segment is grounded in research and modelling, with the narrative guided by the voices of Australian communities.

Key Creatives: DAMON GAMEAU, ANNA KAPLAN

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The Accidental Archivist
2022 | Compass, ABC TV

Julie Peters is a legend in the trans community in Australia and has collected one of the most comprehensive trans archives in the country, including 4,000 spectacular pre internet ‘selfies’. Compiled over fifty years, Julie’s meticulously organised collection is one of the most comprehensive archive of transgender history in Australia: “People have told me I’m a hoarder, turns out I’m an archivist!” Julie Peters.

Producer: TRACEY SPRING | Editors: DANIELLE AKAYAN/PHILIPPA BYERS | EP: AMANDA COLLINGE

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2023 Best Audio Documentary Nominees

Ben Roberts-Smith v the media
2021 | THE GUARDIAN

Inside Australia’s defamation trial of the century: our most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, suing three pre-eminent newspapers over articles he says falsely accuse him of war crimes. Over more than a hundred days the Federal Court of Australia heard confronting, violent, sometimes scandalous, and at times barely believable evidence in what’s been called Australia’s defamation trial of the century.

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The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment (Winner)
2022/2023 | Lockdown Productions, Audible

Tucked away amongst snow-covered mountains is a tiny Australian town with a dark secret. Journalist Patrick Abboud hears whispers that it was once home to the world’s only ‘gay prison’. A prison that specifically incarcerated gay men. His investigation into what happened inside reveals the full story for the first time. This 8-part queer true-crime journey takes you from underground nightclubs to hidden sex haunts, to remote parts of New Zealand and England. At the centre of it all is a covert government operation to eradicate “the greatest menace to society”: homosexuality. The series has won 9 international awards including the 2022 Walkley award for Best Audio feature, along with a Rose D’Or nomination. Bonus episodes being released in 2023.

Researched, Written and Produced by PATRICK ABBOUD & SIMON CUNICH; Audible Director of Original Podcasts: PAUL HORAN

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Bloodguilt
2022 | In Films

Days after Richard Dorrough takes his own life at a gun range in Perth, his fiancée receives a parcel from him in the post – a book filled with the former sailor’s handwriting. She starts to read and, horrified by the chilling confession inside it, quickly hands the book to police… Suicides rarely get reported. But Dan Box and Kate Wild believe this unnerving public death is worthy of exploration. It leads the pair to uneasy truths about race and prejudice in the criminal justice system and to questions about how we tell true crime stories.

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2023 Best Interactive / Immersive Documentary Nominees

Yalinguth
2022 | STORYSCAPE

A sonic, spatial AR experience that is largely expressed through stories, songs, poems and soundscapes – as you move through Melbourne’s iconic Gertrude Street, Fitzroy/Ngar-go. In the Woi Wurrung language Yalinguth means “yesterday”. Many Elders, including the legendary Uncle Jack Charles and Uncle Archie Roach (AC) have shared personal stories, recorded in intimate settings by young Aboriginal people. It’s an important platform on the journey of truth-telling and healing in this country, as you hear First Nations people’s personal accounts of social, political and cultural life, that are strongly connected to place. 

Key Creatives: YALINGUTH WORKING GROUP

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Beyond the Milky Way
2021 | White Spark Pictures

Experience the greatest scientific endeavour in history as you step onto Australia’s future site for the incredible SKA telescope and journey to the edges of the Universe in spectacular 360-degree virtual reality.

Writer & Director: BRIEGE WHITEHEAD | Producers: JESS BLACK & BRIEGE WHITEHEAD

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Night Creatures (Winner)
2022 | Film Camp

Night Creatures is an augmented reality stop-motion experience celebrating the energy, connection, and intimacy of the film festival queue. Based on real-life interviews, animated bats regale us with stories about the delights of cinema. Featuring eight short stories—derived from interviews conducted with a diverse cast of film and film festival enthusiasts—and a ninth experience inviting an audience response, viewers can interact with the animated bats at festival locations. 

Writer-Director-Animators: ISOBEL KNOWLES, VAN SOWERWINE | Producer: PHILIPPA CAMPEY

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2023 Stanley Hawes Award Winner

Dr Cathy Henkel
Filmmaker

Dr Henkel’s award-winning career spans more than 30 years as a documentary producer/director and writer, with credits including ‘The Burning Season’, ‘I Told You I Was Ill: Spike Milligan’, ‘Rise of the Eco-Warriors’, and ‘Laura’s Choice’. She is the Director of the WA Screen Academy at Edith Cowan University and is an unfailing supporter of emerging documentary talent.  

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