Australian International Documentary Conference

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The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) is an Australian conference for the promotion of documentary, factual and unscripted screen content, regarded as one of two major national conferences for filmmakers.

Description[]

AIDC is a not-for-profit organisation[1] committed to the sustainability of documentary, factual and unscripted storytelling. Its goal is to connect creators, purveyors and viewers of non-fiction screen content in ways that promote business, inspire creativity and ignite social change.[2]

As of 2018 the Conference is regarded as one of two major annual conferences for filmmakers, the other being the Screen Makers Conference held in Adelaide.[3]

The 2020 conference will be located at the State Library Victoria.[4]

History[]

First established in 1987,[5] AIDC began life as a biennial conference. Over time the event has moved to several different regions in Australia, mostly being held in capital cities. Over the years it has grown from being a small conference with a few international guests, to being a major annual international event. Serving both the commercial and creative needs of the industry, the conference provides a marketplace for documentary product for national and international buyers and distributors, showcases the work of Australian and international documentary makers, and creates a forum to discuss content, craft, technology and future directions.

It was as a result of the first AIDC, held in 1987 at McLaren Vale, in the heart of South Australia's wine growing region, that the ABC introduced its pre-sale commissioning system.[6]

It was held in Melbourne in 2006 (and possibly previous to this), before relocating back to Adelaide for five successful years until 2015, again moving to Melbourne in 2016. In that year it was held at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).[7]

List of Conferences[]

Year Location Theme Director
1987 McLaren Vale Inaugural Conference Daniela Torsh
1991 Canberra Ideas for Australia Marguerite Grey
1993 Sydney Reflecting the Future Daniela Torsh
1995 Melbourne (no theme) Deb Verhoeven
1997 Brisbane New Frontiers Melanie Guiney
1999 Adelaide Creativity & the Freedom to Express It Michael Elwood
2001 Perth (no theme) Richard Sowada
2003 Byron Bay Outside the Frame Catherine Marciniak
2004 Fremantle Journey to where sand & sea meet John Beaton
2005 Adelaide Common Ground New Horizons Heather Croall
2006 Melbourne Survival of the Fittest Heather Croall
2007 Adelaide Documentary: what is it good for? Joost den Hartog
2008 Fremantle Follow the Story... Joost den Hartog
2009 Adelaide Who's Watching Joost den Hartog
2010 Adelaide It's a small world after all Joost den Hartog
2011 Adelaide Network, Deal, Inspire Joost den Hartog
2012 Adelaide Network, Deal, Inspire Joost den Hartog
2013 Adelaide DocWeek Joost den Hartog[8]
2014 Adelaide DocWeek Joost den Hartog[9]
2015 Adelaide Net-Work-Play Joost den Hartog[10]
2016 Melbourne True Stories Britt Arthur[11]
2017 Melbourne Three Sides to Every Story (30th Anniversary) Britt Arthur / Andrew Wiseman[12][13]
2018 Melbourne Southern Exposure Alice Burgin[14][15]

The most recent conference was held online in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Future conferences will most likely be held will in ACMI and Federation Square's Deakin Edge Auditorium in early March.[16]

The Stanley Hawes Award[]

The annual Stanley Hawes Award for contribution to the documentary in Australia is announced at each AIDC.

The Stanley Hawes Award was established in 1997 to honour Stanley Hawes as first Producer-in-Chief of the Australian National Film Board and Commonwealth Film Unit. The award recognises the significant support he gave independent filmmakers in the documentary sector and is awarded to a person that makes an outstanding contribution to the documentary sector in Australia.[17]

Previous winners:

  • Graham Chase (1997)
  • John Heyer (1999)
  • Pat Fiske (2001)
  • Stewart Young (2003)
  • Robin Hughes (2004)
  • CAAMA (2005)
  • John Hughes (2006)
  • Michael Gissing (2007)
  • David Bradbury (2008)
  • Bob Connolly (2009)
  • Tom Zubrycki (2010)
  • Rachael Perkins (2011)
  • Julia Overton (2012)
  • Documentary Australia Foundation (2013)
  • Chris Hilton (2014)
  • Pauline Clague (2015)
  • Sonya Pemberton (2016)
  • Brian Beaton (2017)
  • Curtis Levy (2018)
  • James Bradley (2019)
  • Janine Hosking (2020)
  • Michaela Perske (2021)

AIDC Awards[]

In 2021, AIDC announced the first nominees for the inaugural AIDC awards [18] in the following categories:

  • Best Feature Documentary
  • Best Documentary/Factual Series
  • Best Documentary/Factual Single
  • Best Short-form Documentary
  • Best Audio Documentary
  • Best Interactive/Immersive Documentary

Further reading[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ http://abr.business.gov.au/SearchByAbn.aspx?abn=31098558313 charitable organisation
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ Tiley, David (3 October 2018). "Media Resource Centre aims for national conference". ArtsHub. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Our organisation". AIDC. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/contemporary-australia/aidc2/
  7. ^ "ACMI to host major documentary conference AIDC in 2016". ACMI. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  8. ^ http://realscreen.com/2012/09/26/australias-docweek-to-launch-with-pennebaker-hegedus-retrospective/
  9. ^ http://adelaidereview.com.au/arts/cinema/docweek-returns-to-adelaide-in-2014/
  10. ^ http://if.com.au/2015/02/24/article/AIDC-Exec-Director-steps-down-after-decade-in-the-role/QGNMXRWVAP.html
  11. ^ http://if.com.au/2015/12/03/article/Emmy-award-winning-producers-to-headline-AIDC-2016/OYGFNOJMDC.html
  12. ^ https://www.aidc.com.au/blogs/news/articles/aidc-2017-first-program-announcement
  13. ^ http://www.realtimearts.net/article/137/12512
  14. ^ https://www.aidc.com.au/blogs/news/articles/aidc-2018-program-first-look
  15. ^ https://mediaweek.com.au/kids-news-news-corp-launch/
  16. ^ https://www.aidc.com.au/blogs/news/articles/melbourne-secures-australian-international-documentary-conference-for-2017
  17. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ https://www.aidc.com.au/awards/nominees
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