20 Days in Mariupol director Mstyslav Chernov and composer Nainita Desai of The Deepest Breath and 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible are the first international speakers confirmed for March’s Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC).
The theme of next year’s event is ‘Frontlines: Shaping the Future of Documentary and Factual Storytelling’ exploring how practitioners, industry leaders and advocates are actively shaping what’s to come, while also defending against challenges to the foundations of documentary practice.
AIDC CEO and creative director Natasha Gadd tells IF the theme was inspired by the current period documentary filmmakers find themselves in in terms of rapid technological development, including AI, as well as global conflict, the growth in citizen journalism, the rise of disinformation, and continued shifts in documentary distribution.
She posits that the frontlines of the documentary sector are where both progress and resistance happens.
“It’s where we’re really championing exciting, daring, courageous new ideas in form and content and style, but it’s also where we’re defending the core values and ethics of non-fiction storytelling,” she says.
Under the main theme, the AIDC will then be divided into six sub-themes that will organise sessions, panels, screenings and initiatives: Edge of Reality (innovation, new technologies and future visions); Courage of Conviction (frontline storytelling, impact and changemaking); Future of Truth (authenticity, integrity and truth-telling); Persistence of Vision (craft, creative nonfiction and experimentation in form); Depth of Field (access, inclusion and representation); and State of Play (policy change, sector reform and sustainability).
Discussing the perils of taking stories from the frontlines to audiences will be Chernov, a Ukrainian photojournalist, filmmaker and war correspondent, who has received Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for his work covering the current war in Ukraine. 20 Days in Mariupol, which details the siege of the city, has won awards at Sundance and Sheffield DocFest, and was recently nominated for five Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, including Best Feature Documentary and Best Political Documentary.
Desai, from the UK, has earned a Critics Choice Documentary Award nomination for her score for The Deepest Breath, and an Emmy nomination for 14 Peaks. Her other credits include For Sama, The Reason I Jump and Body Parts. She will share insights into how the score can help tell the story of a film, with Gadd noting she also has interesting ideas about AI and how it impacting the craft of composing.
More speakers will be announced in December ahead of the full program launch in January.
In terms of the marketplace, AIDC has also confirmed a host of decision makers and buyers. These include a variety of first-time attendees such as Loren Hammonds, head of documentary, Time Studios (US); Nic Meloney, executive in charge of production, factual and documentary, CBC (Canada); Kelsey Koenig, VP of production, Impact Partners (US); Rebecca Nicholls, head of sales and acquisitions, Espresso Media International (UK); Jinseok Kang, programmer, DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (South Korea); Opal H. Bennett, executive producer POV Shorts and senior producer POV (USA); and Nick Ward, senior commissioner, non-scripted, Sky New Zealand (NZ).
Other early confirmations include Ally Gilbert, head of Content Australia & New Zealand, Prime Video (Australia); Kate Bustamante, senior manager, original documentaries, Hulu (US); Ash Hoyle, programmer, Sundance (US); and Keisha Knight, director IDA Funds, International Documentary Association (IDA) (US).
There will also be representatives attending from 3Boxmedia International Sales (Germany), ABC, ARTE G.E.I.E (France), CAT&Docs (France), CBC (Canada), Doc Society (Australia), EBS Korea/EIDF (South Korea), Getty Images (New Zealand), Hot Docs (Canada), In-Docs | Docs By the Sea (Indonesia), Journeyman Pictures (UK), Limonero Films (UK), Madman Entertainment, NITV, Red Bull Studios (Austria), Sandbox Films (US), SBS, Shark Island Foundation, Sheffield DocFest (UK), Sideways Film (UK), Sunny Side of the Doc (France), The New York Times Op-Docs (US), The Post Lounge, The Whickers (UK), and TRT World (Turkey).
The market will host an expanded Shark Island Foundation Feature Docs Pitch, returning for its second year with a doubling of development grants to $100,000. Pitch meetings will take place through Cut to the Chase, AIDC’s curated meetings program for Business Pass and All Access Pass-holders.
The centrepiece international pitching showcase, The FACTory, is currently accepting submissions, with projects sought across three strands; the Central Showcase (for projects in development with international potential); New Talent Showcase (for projects by early-career filmmakers); and Rough Cut Showcase (for projects seeking sales, distribution, and exhibition opportunities). Selected projects will pitch live to decision makers during AIDC 2024.
AIDC is also partnering with The Post Lounge for a third year on the The Post Lounge Doc Pitch designed to support standout documentary and factual projects with a share in up to $30,000 of equity investment through post-production.
Alongside the AIDC Awards, which enter their fourth year, the conference will also debut the $5,000 Southern Light Award, celebrating luminaries of the Australian documentary and factual industry. It expands upon the eligibility scope of the pre-existing Stanley Hawes Award, presented from 1997 – 2023, in that it also covers other mediums beyond screen, such as audio documentary. Nominations can be made by AIDC members and are open now, with the winner to be invited to attend and speak at the awards.
AIDC will take place in person in Melbourne at ACMI March 3-6, with an online international marketplace to follow March 7-8.