The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) launched its program this year, with 2017 also being its 30th anniversary year. Held at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Federation Square, Melbourne, the conference runs from 5th to the 8th March. Passes, both All Access and Day Passes (for days 2-4 only) are now available, with a limited number of VR Plus Passes (for Day 1) on sale soon.
The 4 day conference is focuses on documentary, factual and unscripted screen content, and includes 6 sessions, masterclasses, screenings and networking events. In addition to these events, the AIDC, in conjunction with Film Victoria, will present sessions dedicated to VR Plus (factual content innovation), covering issues related to factual gaming, factual VR business, and VR storytelling.
Events
Some of the events and talks available for 2017 include:
Political Documentary in a Post-Truth World
Featuring BuzzFeed Editor Nicola Harvey, ABC Foreign Correspondent journalist Matt Davis, and director Anna Broinowski (Pauline Hanson: Please Explain?, Forbidden Lie$), it looks at political filmmaking in the age of social media.
This is Not a Documentary
Examines the intricacies of hybrid documentaries, with discussions from award-winning filmmaker Amiel Courtin-Wilson (Bastardy) and ACMI Head of Film Programs James Hewison.
Fair Facts: Fair Use and Copyright for the Australian Filmmaker
Fullbright Fellow Patricia Aufderheide discusses copyright issues surrounding archival material, and the impact this has on fair use.
Instant Documentary
DocumentaryTelevision.com’s Peter Hamilton (US) examines the impact of live mobile video and citizen witnessing on the media landscape. Panelists outline the editorial, technical and scheduling challenges of delivering live programming against content from Facebook and YouTube.
State of Art Address
Self-proclaimed “reformed lawyer” turned social justice activist Mariam Veiszadeh will provide this year’s address, which was first given in 2003. Addressing the theme of AIDC for this year, Three Sides to Every Story, Mariam will share her views on truth, courage and the state of our art, and the world, moving into 2017.
Masterclasses, Networking and Pitching sessions
For more in-depth sessions, the masterclass sessions are designed for craft and business-minded filmmakers. In Archival Revival, director Richard Lowenstein (Roland S. Howard: Autoluminescent) and John Battsek examine the art of using archive footage in a session featuring unseen material from their upcoming Michael Hutchence biographical documentary, Mystify. The Short & Sharp masterclass explores creating short documentaries, with The Guardian’s Head of Documentary Charlie Phillips (UK), while It’s the Format, Stupid! offers insights into the business of factual format creation with UK format king Sanjay Singhal.
Networking sessions will take place at the AIDC Marketplace, where more than 45 international buyers, commissioners and distributors from the BBC, Discovery, Canal +, PBS, Nat Geo, The Guardian and many more will be in attendance. Amongst the attendees are Linde Dehner (GER) from ZDF / Arte, Katy Roberts (AUS) from VICELAND, Aloke Devichand (MAL) from Al Jazeera English, Jason Behan (AUS) from Universal Pictures and Patrick Hurley (UK) from Sheffield Doc/Fest.
The AIDC 2017 Roundtable session sign-ups are now open, and are followed by Speed Pitching sign-ups on Tuesday, 7th February. Limited places are available and both sessions are expected to book up quickly. See www.aidc.com.au/market/roundtables and www.aidc.com.au/market/speed-pitching for more information.
The FACTory, the AIDC’s international pitching event, will be held on Tuesday, 7th March in Federation Square. Ten teams of filmmakers from Australia, New Zealand, China and Bhutan pitch their projects to a panel of decision makers in the hope of scoring a deal.
Free public viewing events
In conjunction with Fed Square and The Guardian, the AIDC will also run free screenings on the Federation Square Big Screen. Screenings include the best short documentaries made under The Guardian documentaries banner (8.30pm, Tuesday 7 March, an Australian first), a marathon 7.5-hour screening of the Academy Award-nominated O.J.: Made in America, introduced by director Ezra Edelman (2pm, Sunday 5 March), an interactive screening of classic Aussie documentary Cane Toads: An Unnatural History with live commentary by director Mark Lewis (6.30pm, Sunday 5 March) and a screening of the acclaimed cricket documentary, Fire in Babylon, featuring a Q&A with producer John Battsek (Monday 6 March).
For more information and for registration to any of the events, go to www.aidc.com.au
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