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‘Sugarcane’ directors, Piotr Winiewicz added to AIDC as full line-up announced

Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie, and Piotr Winiewicz (Max Loeb)

The directors behind the 2025 Oscar-nominated feature documentary Sugarcane and Copenhagen-based Polish artist Piotr Winiewicz have joined the speaker line-up for March’s Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), with the full program unveiled today.

Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie will front a spotlight session on their debut feature documentary, which follows an investigation into the forced separation, assimilation and abuse of children at an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada, ignited by the discovery of unmarked graves near British Columbia’s Sugarcane Reserve.

The spotlight session program will also welcome Winiewicz, who challenged German filmmaker Werner Herzog’s claim that a computer would not make a film as good as his in 4,500 years with mind-bending hybrid documentary, About a Hero, which features a blend of artificial intelligence and Herzog’s work.

The trio joins previously announced speakers Gabriel Shipton, Shiori Ito, Shane Boris, and Elizabeth Klinck at this year’s event, which will carry the theme of Future Telling: New Horizons in Documentary & Factual Storytelling.

The lineup also features presenter, documentarian, and podcaster Marc Fennell; mountaineer, cinematographer, and adventure filmmaker Renan Öztürk; and collaborators on the new film Deeper, director Jennifer Peedom and key diver in the Tham Luang cave rescue Dr Richard ‘Harry’ Harris.

Scuba divers swim in front of crisp light rays shining through the trees down into Mexico’s Yucatan cenote and cave system in Jennifer Peedom’s ‘Deeper’

Incorporating over 40 sessions, and more than 115 speakers, the conference will explore the subthemes of DokPolitik (advocacy, sector reform, policy change), Curious Truths (experimentation in form, creative nonfiction, investigative storytelling), Stories Without Borders (co-pros, international formats, crossing genres, field building), ReFraming Reality (future of truth, innovation, new technologies and future- casting), and Pulling Focus (sustainability, audience and distribution, impact and narrative strategy).

Following the in-person conference, which will take place March 2-5, there will be an online marketplace across March 6-7, featuring a raft of first-time participants.

Among the media brands to be represented are ABC, Al Jazeera, Amazon Prime Video, American Documentary | POV, ARTE France, BBC Storyville, CBC, Channel 4, EBS Korea/EIDF, Hulu, National Geographic, NHK, NITV, Paramount, PTS, SBS, STAN, SVT, TVNZ, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

A range of studios, distributors, and producer-distributors are also confirmed, including Autlook Filmsales, The Party Film Sales, CAT&Docs, Fred Media & Radar MCN, Limonero Films, Love Nature / Blue Ant Media, Madman Entertainment, Off the Fence, Quintus Studios, Sideways Film, TVF International, and Umbrella Entertainment.

As with previous years, AIDC 2025 will host an array of representatives from documentary development funds and foundations, such as Catapult Film Fund, Doc Society, The Whickers, Shark Island Foundation, and the International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA).

AIDC CEO/Creative Director Natasha Gadd said the conference was once again striving to support the creation of bold new works, drive new outcomes, and build new collaborations.

“As we stand at the precipice of a new era for our sector, at AIDC 2025 we turn our lens to the future of documentary and factual storytelling to create a forum that not only explores what is on the horizon but also creates a dialogue for us to actively shape the future we want to see for ourselves and our sector,” she said.

“At AIDC 2025 we explore what changes, challenges and possibilities lie ahead in a rapidly evolving media landscape – from industry reform to innovative modes of creating, new ways of seeing, and inventive ways of taking our stories to audiences across the globe.”

Find the full line-up for this year’s conference here.

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