The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) reveal the exceptional nominees for the 4th annual AIDC Awards, and also to announce the winner of the inaugural AIDC Southern Light Award for outstanding contribution to nonfiction screen, digital and/or audio media.
The AIDC Awards recognise outstanding works of new Australian documentary and factual content across six categories: Best Feature Documentary, with a $5,000 cash prize presented by Film Finances; Best Documentary / Factual Series; Best Documentary / Factual Single; Best Audio Documentary, with a $3,000 cash prize presented by AFTRS; Best Short-Form Documentary; and Best Interactive/Immersive Documentary, with a $3,000 cash prize presented by Deakin Motion Lab.
In 2024, the AIDC Awards are complemented by the debut of the AIDC Southern Light Award, with award-winning producer and factual television trailblazer Karina Holden announced as the inaugural winner of the $5,000 cash prize, presented by AIDC. As winner, Karina will be invited to speak at the 2024 AIDC Awards Presentation, held Wednesday 6 March at ACMI in Melbourne / Naarm.
Natasha Gadd, AIDC CEO / Creative Director, said: “With a record number of entries to the 2024 AIDC Awards, our jurors found it particularly challenging to select this year’s nominees from such a bumper crop of projects. Congratulations to all nominees across each of the six categories and enormous gratitude to the Awards jurors for helping to select this incredible line-up.
“On behalf of the AIDC Board, we are extremely proud to present the inaugural AIDC Southern Light Award to Katrina Holden. Katrina is an absolute factual force who has been at the forefront of change; always championing new voices, testing new ground and shaping a more inclusive documentary sector.
“And of course, thank you to our AIDC Awards sponsors – Film Finances, AFTRS and Deakin Motion Lab for their generous cash prizes.”
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2024 AIDC Award Nominees
BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
This award is supported by completion guarantor Film Finances with a $5,000 cash prize.
The Dark Emu Story
2023 | Blackfella Films
Darren Dale, Belinda Mravicic, Jacob Hickey, Allan Clarke
The Giants
2023 | General Strike & Matchbox Pictures Rachael Antony, Laurence Billiet
This is Going to be Big
2023 | Truce Films & Fremantle Media
Jim Wright, Josie Mason-Campbell, Catherine Bradbury, Thomas Hyland
The Last Daughter
Gravity Films
Brendon Skinner, Simon Williams, Brenda Matthews, Nathaniel Schmidt
Dan Read, Film Finances CEO, said, “We are proud of our commitment to documentary filmmakers and are thrilled to present the Best Feature Documentary award again this year at the 2024 AIDC Awards.”
BEST DOCUMENTARY / FACTUAL SERIES
Folau
In Films
Vanilla Tupu, Nel Minchin, Ivan O’Mahoney
Never Let Him Go
2023 | Blackfella Films & Show of Force
Darren Dale, Jacob Hickey, Jeff Dupre, Saralena Weinfield
Queerstralia
2023 | Guesswork Television
Jon Casimir, Kevin Whyte, Plum Stubbings, Zoë Coombs Marr, Stamatia Maroupas
Who The Bloody Hell Are We?
2023 | Chemical Media
Tony Jackson, David Collins, Nick McInerney
BEST DOCUMENTARY / FACTUAL SINGLE
Keeping Hope
Joined Up Films
Jacqueline Willinge, Tyson Mowarin, Dan Brown, Mark Coles Smith
Rebel wIth a Cause: Neville Bonner
Inkey Media
Douglas Watkin, Citt Williams
Rebel wIth a Cause: Oodgeroo Noonuccal
2023 | Inkey Media
Sio F Tusa, Citt Williams
The Platypus Guardian
2023 | WildBear & Tetrapod
Fraser Johnston, Nick Hayward, Chadden Hunter
BEST SHORT-FORM DOCUMENTARY
Compass – Lottery of Life
2023 | ABC TV Compass
Amanda Collinge, Kylie Grey
Marungka tjalatjunu (Dipped in black)
2023 | Other Pictures & Switch Productions
Matthew Thorne, Derik Lynch
Patricia in the Dark
2023 | One Dark Horse Race Laura Hartley
Tee Ken Ng
2023 | Kirri Media
Shari Hutchison, Ella Wright
BEST AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
This award is supported by AFTRS, with a $3,000 cash prize.
House of Skulls
2023 | Sony & Audible
Marc Fennell, Pallavi Kottamasu, Paul Horan
Nobody Dies Here
2023 | Alongside Radio
Michelle Ransom-Hughes
Secrets We Keep: Shame, Lies and Family
LiSTNR
Amelia Oberhardt, Ellen Leabeater, Jake Morcom, Nial Fernandes
Robbie Miles, the Australian Film Television and Radio School’s Head of Industry and
Alumni, said, “AFTRS is delighted to continue supporting the Best Audio Documentary Prize at AIDC. Audio documentaries play a crucial role in our radio and podcasting education, providing a powerful platform to share compelling stories with diverse audiences.”
BEST INTERACTIVE / IMMERSIVE DOCUMENTARY
This award is supported by research centre Deakin Motion Lab (DML), with a $3,000 cash prize.
The Earth Above: a deep time view of Australia’s epic history
The ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage & Deakin Motion Lab
Martin Potter, Lorraine Williams, Annie Risk, Russell Mullett, Kenneth McLean, Lowell Hunter, Willandra
Lakes Region First Peoples’ Consultative Group, Scott Jackson, Charlie Hill-Smith, Will McCallum
Turbulence: Jamais Vu
2023 | Pernickety Split
Ben Joseph Andrews, Emma Roberts
Yalinguth by the Birrarung
2023 | Storyscape
Yalinguth Working Group
Stefan Greuter, Co-Director of Deakin Motion Lab, said, “Deakin Motion Lab is an interdisciplinary research and knowledge community focused on pioneering screen experiences. We are passionate about creative applications of technology, and the AIDC Best Interactive / Immersive Documentary Award recognises outstanding work and encourages new voices and experiences to emerge.”
2024 AIDC Southern Light Award
The winner of the inaugural AIDC Southern Light Award for outstanding contribution to nonfiction screen, digital and/or audio media, is producer Karina Holden, Head of Factual at Northern Pictures.
Karina has been a trailblazer in the field of factual television for over two decades. She has overseen more than 20 factual series, including See What You Made Me Do (SBS), called ‘one of the most important documentaries you’ll ever watch’; Employable Me (ABC), which gave people with disabilities their first opportunity to participate in the workforce; and the globally successful Love on the Spectrum (ABC, Netflix), winner of four Emmy® Awards. Along with series co-creator Cian O’Clery, Karina has been recognised by the Producers Guild of America for advancing the portrayal and employment of disabilities in media.
In 2021, Karina was named the UNESCO Sydney City of Film, Filmmaker of the Year, and in 2023 her broad slate of programs was awarded the prestigious Human Rights Award for Media and Creative Industries. The crux of her work is to create change, truth-tell, and find unlikely heroes who challenge our perceptions.
Karina Holden, said, “It is a thrill to be recognised by AIDC with the inaugural Southern Light Award. I consider the most important work we do as documentary filmmakers is to shine a light into places where we reveal new truths and illuminate unheard stories. And so this award feels like a beacon. It reminds me that empathy, understanding, and ultimately, change,often begin with a single story seen, a single voice amplified. Thank you, AIDC, for recognising the power of that light in my work, and for encouraging us all to keep shining ever brighter.”
The AIDC Southern Light Award was established in 2024 to celebrate the luminaries of the Australian documentary and factual industry. It expands the scope of the preceding Stanley Hawes Award, presented from 1997-2023, to now include nonfiction screen, digital and/or audio media contributions. The winner receives a $5,000 cash prize from AIDC and is invited to speak at the AIDC Awards Presentation.
