The Australian International Documentary Conference will welcome back in-person attendance while retaining online components for next year’s event, which will carry the theme of Bearing Witness.
Details of the hybrid program were announced today, with conference sessions set to return to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne from March 6-9 and simultaneously broadcast via the AIDC online event platform.
Confirmed to speak as part of the 2022 lineup are former co-head of movies at Amazon Studios and US independent producer Ted Hope, Chinese-born US director Nanfu Wang, LA-based Australian director Eva Orner, and producer Sue Maslin.
The conference will be the first under new CEO and creative director Natasha Gadd, who said it would celebrate non-fiction storytellers who continued to innovate and adapt to tell stories during times of crisis.
“AIDC is proud to introduce our first ever hybrid event to enable documentary and factual creators to access AIDC 2022 in-person and online from anywhere in the world,” she said.
“We’re thrilled to be able to share a taste of our world-class speakers and buyers as well as a host of new industry initiatives designed to facilitate creative and business outcomes, aid recovery, and contribute to a sustainable and vibrant future for our industry.”
The theme of next year’s program will be explored through sub-themes On the Record (investigative documentary and interrogation); Truth to Power (films for change, accountability and impact), Moments in Time (crafting observation, capturing the every day); Documenting History (memories of the present, archives for the future); and Future Visions (innovation, regeneration and potential futures).
With submissions already open for The FACTory international pitching forum, AIDC is also seeking applications for its Cut to the Chase curated meetings program, the new DocPlay Originals Pitch, and the Getty Images Archive Pitch. The AIDC Awards are also set to make a return.
ACMI director and CEO Katrina Sedgwick said the centre was proud to be the home of the AIDC.
“Factual content has always been at the heart of ACMI and along with our ongoing screening and public programs the Story of the Moving Image celebrates the breadth and power of factual content.
“Providing AIDC with accommodation year-round and hosting the conference in the heart of Melbourne supports our industry and connects our audiences to these makers and their work”
The AIDC will be followed immediately by an online-only marketplace that will feature representatives from 30WEST (USA); the ABC; Acast; Actual Films (USA); Al Jazeera English (Malaysia); ARTE G.E.I.E. (France); BBC (UK); Blue Ant Media (Canada); Blue Ice Docs (Canada); CAA (USA) Cargo Film & Releasing (USA); CBC (Canada); Cinetic Media (USA); Dhaka DocLab (Bangladesh); Doc Society; France Televisions (France); National Geographic (USA); NHK (Japan); NITV; One World (Czech Republic); PodcastOne Australia; SBS; SLAM / RTG Features (USA); Sunny Side of the Doc (France); This Machine (USA); Topic Studios/First Look Media (USA); YLE (Finland), with many more to be announced.
AIDC will run March 6-9 2022 in-person and online, with the international marketplace held across March 10 and 11. Find out more information here.