By Adam Ross

The physical leg of the conference will take place at ACMI from 5-8th March 2023, with an online-only international marketplace running from 9-11th March 2023.

The 2023 program’s central theme, Agents of Change, celebrates the people and the practices working to elevate documentary and factual storytelling. Through this theme, AIDC 2023 will highlight the changemakers of nonfiction storytelling, and bring focus to the champions of the craft leading the way for the creation of bold stories with real-world impact. The conference will explore the following subthemes through keynotes, industry panels and initiatives: 

  • Upcoming: New voices and audiences. 
  • Breaking Ground: Truth-telling, investigation, and impact. 
  • Shifting Perspectives: Craft, storytelling, and representation.
  • In Focus: Advocacy, reform, ethics, and integrity. 
  • Future Horizons: Innovation, technology, sustainability, and regeneration.

AIDC 2023’s special guests include three of 2023’s Academy Award (Oscar) nominees, including Sara Dosa (Fire of Love), Shaunak Sen (All That Breathes), and Daniel Roher (Navalny). Other notable guests include David Farrier (Tickled, Mister Organ), Dean Gibson (Incarceration Nation), Dena Curtis (A League Of Her Own), and Emma Sullivan (Into The Deep).

Fire of Love director Sara Dosa

 

All That Breathes director Shaunak Sen

 

Navalny director Daniel Roher

The conference will host special screenings including director Laura Poitras’ All The Beauty and The Bloodshed, and Q&A sessions of Into The Deep and Mister Organ.

FilmInk sat down with AIDC Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director Natasha Gadd to talk about the conference, its opportunities, and the future of the documentary form.

AIDC CEO and Creative Director Natasha Gadd

You have amassed an overwhelming amount of talent for the conference. For a first-time attendee, where would you recommend they start?

There is so much to explore at AIDC. We cater for all career levels and interests across a range of nonfiction formats and styles – whether you have a project you are seeking to develop or just want to broaden your knowledge and understanding of documentary craft. 

We have a stellar lineup of local and international talent presenting sessions. They will take a deep dive into their documentary practice, so if you are an independent filmmaker, we recommend you start with the spotlight sessions with award-winning creators such as Sara Dosa, Shaunak Sen, David Farrier, Daniel Roher, and Emma Sullivan

If you have a project you are developing, we’d recommend attending sessions where you can hear from the commissioners across public broadcasters, streamers and funders. You can learn what they are looking for and whether your project aligns with their key goals. You can learn how to pitch to these decision-makers and find the best path to greenlight your project.

You are a renowned filmmaker in your own right, how does your creative background influence your decisions at AIDC?

Having attended various AIDC editions as a practitioner for over 20 years – especially when starting out – I know first-hand how hard it can be to get yourself in front of decision-makers and buyers who can help to get your project commissioned or secure a sales or distribution deal. This experience has reinforced how crucial it is for AIDC to create and facilitate new initiatives for emerging practitioners to help access these decision-makers. 

The Leading Lights program is an initiative that enables emerging, Indigenous and/or culturally and linguistically diverse practitioners to attend AIDC for the first time. Thanks to the support of industry donors, participants can take part in a suite of upskilling, pitching and networking opportunities. The program contributes to building a more diverse and inclusive sector and helps new storytellers establish themselves as a vital part of Australia’s screen community.

The networking elements at AIDC are vast. What recommendations would you make to both creatives looking to pitch, and industry decision-makers looking to buy?

There are a number of formal opportunities to pitch projects through AIDC’s marketplace programs, such as The FACTory International Pitching Forum, Cut to the Chase and the Fresh Cuts Pitch. These provide unique opportunities for selected producers to pitch to the market. 

The networking opportunities create an additional layer for practitioners to meet and connect with decision-makers for future opportunities. We recommend not focusing on pitching at networking events, but rather, introducing yourself. Try to form relationships where you might be able to connect at a later stage with a formal pitch in the appropriate forum. 

The advent of streaming services has been a boon to the documentary format. What do you think of this new landscape where documentaries (and docuseries) compete head-to-head against narrative fare?

Prior to streaming, documentary enthusiasts would be at the mercy of public or commercial broadcaster channel programming or have to wait for annual film festivals to satiate their needs.

Streaming providers have introduced a broader range of platforms for quality documentary and factual formats. They are reaching more mainstream audiences, and are fostering a new generation of viewers who are aware of how potent, engaging and entertaining documentaries can be. 

This is a great thing, as it means more homes for nonfiction content, and leads to greater commissioning opportunities. Growing audiences drive demand for more non-fiction content. 

As long as the streamers continue to commission and collaborate with Australian practitioners – especially with the new proposed quotas for Australian content – we will see more opportunities for Australian non-fiction content across the board, including features, one-off series, and short formats. I love the fact that more audiences are tuning in to great non-fiction storytelling. 

As a format, the documentary is becoming extraordinarily malleable (Flee, Moonage Daydream), what emerging trends are catching your eye?

Documentary creators have been innovating in this space since the advent of the documentary in the late 1800s. The storytelling has shifted and evolved from presenter-led, educational documentaries to observational, poetic, hybrid, and animation formats, the list goes on. 

We’re also seeing really exciting experimentation with documentaries in extended reality and interactive and immersive spaces. The form will continue to evolve, but interestingly, the trend that is really capturing the attention of the sector is documentaries using social media – TikTok, and Instagram. It introduces bite-sized storytelling for younger audiences who consume content on these platforms. 

It’s a brave new world, one that breaks the tradition of longer-form, commissioned documentaries. But we know this is where younger audiences are consuming their content, so it is crucial that we bring this into the fold as a new medium of storytelling.

Historically, the documentary has frequently been used as a call to action, and we see that reflected in the work of your key speakers in 2023. Did this inform your central theme of Agents of Change?

The ‘Agents of Change’ theme shines a spotlight on the nonfiction creators whose works have impacted real-world change. Whether it be social, political, cultural, or environmental, documentaries have the power to shift our perspectives on the world around us. 

Documentary creators have been doing this since the first roll of 35mm film passed through the gates of a film camera. Films like The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris and Paradise Lost series by Joe Berlinger were instrumental in overturning wrongful convictions. More recently, The Teachers Pet audio documentary saw the reopening of the case into the disappearance of Lynette Dawson; this eventually saw her former husband found guilty of murder. 

In the AIDC program this year, we feature two outstanding docs that have achieved remarkable real-world impact – Emma Sullivan’s Into the Deep, following the murder of Kim Wall by inventor Peter Madson, and Daniel Roher’s Navalny, which investigates the poisoning of Russian politician Alexie Navalny. Footage from both of these documentaries was used in evidence to help convict the perpetrators of these crimes, and at AIDC 2023, we acknowledge the incredible rigour of these filmmakers to bring truth to the surface and hold those perpetrators to account. 

What documentary changed your life? 

I’ve been watching, programming and making documentaries for over 20 years. So many documentaries have blown me away, so it’s impossible to single one out. I’ve always loved the Maysles brothers’ documentaries (Don’t Look Back, Grey Gardens) for their incredible observational style, and the way they use the tropes of narrative films to create incredibly engaging character-driven documentaries.

The one film that really did leave a lasting impression on me is Children Underground by Edet Belzberg. It is an observational documentary set in Romania during the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime. Draconian contraception laws and forced closures of state care homes forced thousands of young people to fend for themselves on the streets. 

Belzberg followed five of these children as they sought refuge in the underground train stations of Bucharest. Stealing in order to survive, many turned to ‘chroming’ (the misuse of inhalants) to escape their trauma.

Belzberg was criticised by some reviewers for not intervening. I recall an interview where she said she had to make an unenviable choice: either protect children in that moment or document the catastrophic governmental neglect. Only one choice could be seen by the world. She chose the latter and brought this crisis to global attention. 

This is obviously a choice no filmmaker wants to make, but one that reveals the complexities that filmmakers have to contend with. Especially if they want to shine a light on some of the darker corners of our world, generate awareness, and instigate real-world change.

Check out the full AIDC program here.

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