AIDC reveals 2025 theme and first look at program

The Southern Hemisphere’s premier gathering and marketplace for documentary and factual content – the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) – has announced the first confirmed conference guests and unveiled its 2025 theme – FUTURE TELLING.

Taking place in-person from Sunday 2 March to Wednesday 5 March 2025 at ACMI, Melbourne / Naarm, the conference is followed by an online international marketplace, 6-7 March 2025.

AIDC 2025: FUTURE TELLING 

Integrating a focus on tomorrow with ideas of storytelling and truth-telling crucial to documentary and factual practice, the AIDC 2025 theme FUTURE TELLING informs a program that explores new horizons for the sector and considers ways to actively shape the future we want to see for ourselves and our communities.

Through a curated program of industry sessions, spotlight speakers, screenings and initiatives, AIDC 2025 will examine the changes, challenges and possibilities that 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.

Under the banner of FUTURE TELLING, AIDC 2025 will explore the following subthemes: Dok-Politik (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).

AIDC CEO / Creative Director Natasha Gadd, said, “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 invites us to envision possible or alternative futures for ourselves and our sector.”

“We’re thrilled to announce this incredible first lineup of speakers, decision makers and initiatives for AIDC 2025 as we explore the bold, innovative and creative ways that we can actively shape the changes we want to see.”

FIRST LOOK SPEAKERS

Revealing its first line-up of speakers, AIDC will welcome international and local conference guests at the forefront of the evolving landscape of non-fiction storytelling: Shane Boris, Shiori Ito, Gabriel Shipton and Elizabeth Klinck for virtual and in-person sessions.

Shane Boris, Producer, Navalny, Fire of Love, Stray, Hollywoodgate (USA)

Shane Boris is an Academy Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated producer and writer working on films that push the boundaries of conventional form to tell timeless and cinematic stories. In 2022, Boris produced two documentaries, Fire Of Love and Navalny, both securing Oscar nominations and marking him the first producer since 1942 to be nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature in the same year. He
went on to win the Oscar for Navalny. His other recent films include Hollywoodgate, King Coal, Stray, The Edge Of Democracy, The Seer And The Unseen, and All These Sleepless Nights.

Shiori Ito, Director, Black Box Diaries (Japan)

Shiori Ito is the director of the Sundance World Cinema – Documentary prize-nominated and CPH: DOX 20204 Human Rights Award-winning Black Box Diaries (2024). A journalist, writer, documentary filmmaker, and co-founder of Hanashi Films, Ito wrote the 2017 book Black Box, based on her own experience of rape and revealing the sexism in Japan’s society and institutions. The book won the Free Press Association of Japan Award in 2018, and in 2020 she was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. Recently Ito was named the 2024 recipient of the International Documentary Association’s prestigious Emerging Filmmaker Award.

Gabriel Shipton, Producer, Transmedia Storyteller,  Ithaka: A Fight to Free Julian Assange, the Censored* collection (Australia)

Gabriel Shipton is an award-winning Australian film producer, transmedia storyteller and human rights advocate. He is the brother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and has been at the forefront of the fight to free him. He produced the Award-winning documentary Ithaka: A Fight to Free Julian Assange (directed by Ben Lawrence), about his family’s struggle against Julian’s extradition. Beyond filmmaking, Gabriel is a founding member of AssangeDAO, a decentralised autonomous organisation supporting his brother’s legal defence. He also produced the Censored* collection, an innovative NFT project by artist Pak and Julian that utilised blockchain technology to tell Julian’s story through interactive digital art.

Elizabeth Klinck, Producer, Researcher and Clearance Specialist, Into the Inferno, Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words, Stories We Tell (Canada)

Elizabeth Klinck is a Canadian archive producer, visual researcher, and clearance specialist whose work on hundreds of international documentary films has garnered BAFTA, Emmy, FOCAL UK Awards, Canadian Screen Awards, Peabody, and Academy Awards. Notable projects include Werner Herzog’s Into the Inferno, Thorsten Schütte’s Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words, Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, and Thomas von Steinaecker’s Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer. She has been the recipient of six Best Visual Research Awards at the Canadian Screen, Gemeaux, and Gemini Awards, and in 2008 she was the first Canadian to be awarded the UK’s FOCAL International Lifetime Achievement Award. Elizabeth Klinck’s participation in AIDC 2025 is generously supported by the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney.

NEW DECISION MAKERS AND BUYERS

The AIDC 2025 marketplace will see an array of new decision makers and companies participating for the very first time, including, Alison Barrat, Head of Content, Love Nature / Blue Ant Media (Canada), Adam Jacobs, Creative Director, Quintus Studios (UK), Laura Miret, Commissioning Editor – Specialist Factual and Natural History Unit, ARTE France (France), Bo Zhang, Head of International Co-Productions, bilibili (China), Charlotte Madsen, Commissioning Editor, Documentary, SVT (Sweden), Alice Burgin, Head of Industry, Visions du Réel (Switzerland) and the newly appointed commissioning team from NITV, Dena Curtis, Head of Indigenous Commissioning and Production, Cieron Cody, Senior Commissioning Editor, and Joseph Meldrum, Commissioning Editor.

The newcomers will participate alongside commissioners and funders from high profile companies in the doc and factual space, including, Lucie Kon, Commissioning Editor, BBC Storyville (UK), Nic Meloney, Executive in Charge of Documentary & Factual, CBC (Canada), Natsu Kawakami, Senior Producer, NHK (Japan), Stephanie Fuchs, CEO, Autlook Filmsales (Austria), Poppy McAlister, Head of TVF International, TVF International (UK), Theresa Navarro, Co-Director & Chief Operations Officer, Catapult Film Fund (USA), Alicia Brown, Commissioning Editor, STAN (Australia), Ari Harrison, General Manager, Umbrella Entertainment (Australia) – with many more to be announced.

Following a vibrant 2024 event with over 750 Australian and international delegates attending, AIDC 2025 will continue to expand its networking, knowledge, and professional and project development opportunities for documentary and factual practitioners.

AIDC MARKETPLACE & INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT

AIDC’s 2025 Marketplace & Industry Development Program will once again provide an expansive range of business and development opportunities specifically for documentary and factual practitioners. Alongside sales, acquisitions, and funding decisions resulting from AIDC Marketplace activity, in the past six years, AIDC’s Industry Development initiatives have unlocked $2.4 million in professional and project development opportunities, and awards and prizes, with an additional $180,000 so far unlocked for AIDC 2025.

Confirmed AIDC Marketplace attendees include various representatives from high-profile broadcasters, streamers, distributors, sales agents and funding bodies: ABC (Australia), ARTE France (France), ARTE G.E.I.E (France), Autlook Filmsales (Austria), BBC Storyville (UK), BBC Studios (Australia), bilibili (China), Cargo Film Releasing (USA), Catapult Film Fund (USA), CAT&Docs (France), CBC (Canada), DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (South Korea), Doc Edge (New Zealand), Doc Society (Australia), EBS Korea/EIDF (South Korea), Getty Images (New Zealand), Hot Docs (Canada), Hulu (USA), International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA) (France), Limonero Films (UK), Love Nature / Blue Ant Media (Canada), Madman Entertainment (Australia), Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) (Australia), NHK (Japan), NITV (Australia), Off the Fence (Netherlands), One World (Czech Republic), Quintus Studios (UK), Rise and Shine World Sales (Germany), SBS (Australia), Shark Island Foundation (Australia), Sheffield DocFest (UK), Sideways Film (UK), STAN (Australia), Sundance Film Festival (USA), Sunny Side of the Doc (France), SVT (Sweden), The Post Lounge (Australia), TVF International (UK), Umbrella Entertainment (Australia), Visions du Réel (Switzerland),The Whickers (UK), and TRT World (Turkiye) with many more yet to be announced.

The 10th anniversary edition of AIDC’s market centrepiece, The FACTory International Pitching Showcase, presented by VicScreen, 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 2025.

Meetings between industry guests and accredited producers will again take place through Cut to the Chase, AIDC’s curated meetings program for Business Pass and All Access Pass-holders. Now open for submissions, Cut to the Chase matches producers and their projects to the most relevant commissioning editors, acquisitions executives, distributors, sales agents, financiers and funders, with in person meetings with local and international decision makers taking place during AIDC and additional international meetings arranged online.

Returning for its second year is AIDC’s slate-pitching program The Showroom, designed specifically for established Australian production companies with multiple nonfiction projects in development. The Showroom generates business opportunities through extended meetings and exclusive access to high-level buyers representing international broadcasters, streamers and sales agents attending AIDC.

AIDC 2025’s Marketplace & Industry Development program will also host the Shark Island Foundation Feature Docs Pitch for its third year, offering up to $100,000 in development grants for character-driven feature documentaries with distinctive points of view, creative vision, clear artistic style, and the potential to shift thinking.

AIDC is once again partnering with The Post Lounge for a fourth year of 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. Producers are now invited to submit projects in development across any nonfiction genre via AIDC’s Cut to the Chase program.

And with the return of Leading Lights – AIDC’s philanthropically-funded program for diverse and emerging storytellers – AIDC 2025 has already unlocked over $180,000 in project development funding, professional development and prizes for delegates.

2025 AIDC AWARDS

Set to cap AIDC 2025 on Wednesday 5 March 2025, nominations are currently sought for the prestigious 5th annual AIDC Awards, recognising outstanding completed works of new Australian documentary and factual content across six categories: Best Feature Documentary, Best Documentary/Factual Series, Best Documentary/Factual Single, Best Short-Form Documentary (with a cash prize presented by AFTRS), Best Audio Documentary and Best Interactive/Immersive Documentary.

AIDC Members are also encouraged to nominate an Australian documentary and factual industry luminary for the 2025 AIDC Southern Light Award, a $5,000 cash prize given by AIDC to an Australian industry professional for their outstanding contribution to nonfiction screen, digital and/or audio media.

“SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR LOCAL TALENT”

Creative and economic screen development agency VicScreen continues its long-running and welcome support of AIDC, with the conference now entering its 10th year in Victoria.

VicScreen CEO, Caroline Pitcher, said, “Melbourne is set to be buzzing with all things factual and documentary, with the 2025 edition of AIDC taking place in March. Today’s first look reveals another exciting program set to bring global leaders in factual storytelling to Victoria to connect with our local documentary creators. From the FACTory pitch day to awards and screenings, this multifaceted industry conference provides significant opportunities for our local talent to hone their skills, secure business deals through curated meetings and turbo charge their careers. 2025 marks the 10th successive AIDC in Victoria and VicScreen is proud to continue our longstanding partnership with AIDC for this latest iteration of the conference.”

Presenting partner ACMI also continues its commitment to AIDC, hosting the event within the museum in Melbourne’s Fed Square and collaborating on year-round documentary screenings programmed with AIDC.

ACMI Director and CEO, Seb Chan, said, “As part of our long-standing partnership with AIDC, ACMI is excited to present the next edition of the country’s premier screen conference. In an increasingly complex world, our documentary and factual storytellers have never been more crucial to sharing perspectives, exploring truth, and inspiring us to imagine and create our shared futures. ACMI’s collaboration with AIDC is key to the museum’s work in strengthening our screen sector and building screen culture through our globally connected hub in Melbourne.”