By Matthew Lowe
First established in 1987, AIDC is the Asia-Pacific’s premier event for documentary, specialist factual and unscripted entertainment.
Featuring a three-day marketplace, ideas forum and public screening program, AIDC aims to connect creators, purveyors and viewers of nonfiction screen content.
Today AIDC announced their 2016 program which will take place at Melbourne’s Australian Centre for the Moving Image between February 28 and March 2.
Encompassing a free short documentary showcase, a feature documentary screening program, and two delegate exclusive screenings, these sessions will be accompanied by a provocative and innovative program of keynote speakers, panel discussions and masterclasses with local and international experts.
One of the most talked about events will surely be a keynote panel with the creators of HBO’s headline grabbing The Jinx. One of the most fascinating and celebrated documentary series of recent times – its now-famous finale was reported on the front page of the New York Times and its revelations prompted a new murder trial for its subject, Robert Durst. Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier, two of the series’ filmmakers will discuss the long and complicated production of the series and the ethics of investigation.
Film highlights among this year’s program include:
Catfish Interrupted: A strange and controversial journey wherein Facebook is the central character, and through its many rabbit holes a very wide world becomes narrow and slightly creepy.
The Hunting Ground: a sobering exposé of rape culture on American college campuses from the Emmy award-winning team behind The Invisible War. The screening will be followed by a special Q&A hosted by Women’s Trust Executive Director Mary Crooks.
The Memory of Justice: From legendary documentarian Marcel Ophüls (The Sorrow and the Pity; Hotel Terminus), this fascinating four hour plus film from 1976 explores the sobering topic of wartime atrocities, especially those committed in Vietnam and the Second World War. Restored by the Martin Scorsese-founded Film Foundation and shown at the New York Film Festival, TIFF and BFI London Film Festival, this marks its Australian premiere screening.
Sherpa: Trouble On Everest: A riveting look at how an argument between mountain Sherpas culminated in one of the worst tragedies in the history of Everest. This BAFTA-nominated film tells the story of how, in the face of fierce opposition, the Sherpas united in grief and anger to reclaim the mountain they call Chomolungma. The screening will be followed by an exclusive Q&A with the film’s director, writer, and co-producer.
Who is Dayani Cristal?: Deep in the Sonora desert, Arizona border police discover a decomposing male body with a tattoo that reads “Dayani Cristal”. Who is this person and how did he die? Director Marc Silver and Mexican actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal seek to answer these questions and give this anonymous man an identity. Retracing the man’s steps along the migrant trail in Central America, his story becomes testimony to the tragic results of the US war on immigration.
AIDC will run from February 28 to March 2 in Melbourne.
For more information or to register, visit the AIDC website.
