AIDC has unveiled its 2026 award nominees, confirmed its first ever dual Southern Light Award winners and detailed its public screening program ahead of this year’s conference.
Returning to ACMI in Melbourne from 2 to 5 March, the Australian International Documentary Conference will again spotlight the breadth of local nonfiction storytelling, culminating in the sixth annual AIDC Awards.
AIDC CEO and Creative Director Natasha Gadd said the quality of submissions sparked extensive deliberations, adding:
“AIDC is delighted to pay tribute to the extraordinary talent of the doc and factual creators and projects nominated for our sixth edition of the AIDC Awards.”
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Across six categories, 26 projects have been shortlisted for 2026.
Best Feature Documentary: The Colleano Heart; Deeper; The Golden Spurtle; Iron Winter; Yurlu | Country.
Best Documentary or Factual Series: Annabel Crabb’s Civic Duty; The Kimberley; The People Vs Robodebt; Revealed: Death Cap Murders; When The War Is Over.
Best Documentary or Factual Single: Emily: I Am Kam; Island of the Dead; Killer Whale: Australia’s Megapod; PNG: Road to Independence; The War Below: Restoring Hope in the Solomon Islands.
Best Short Form Documentary: Aṉangu Way; Bringing His Spirit Home; In the Depths of Her Memory; Wieambilla Reconstructed.
Best Audio Documentary: Broken Trust; Fallout: Spies on Norfolk Island; Skase: Fall of a Tycoon; Toy Soldier.
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Best Interactive or Immersive Documentary: The Great Kimberley Wilderness; We Were Children Once; The World Came Flooding In.
Presented for the third time in 2026, the Southern Light Award recognises outstanding contribution to nonfiction screen, digital and audio media.
In a first for the honour, Simon Nasht and Karla Hart (main picture) will share the award, each receiving a $5,000 cash prize.
Hart is recognised for her leadership in First Nations storytelling across screen, while Nasht is acknowledged for a decades-long career shaping documentary in Australia and internationally.
The 2026 AIDC Awards will be hosted by Network 10’s Narelda Jacobs OAM, with the presentation taking place at ACMI on 5 March.
AIDC 2026 will also feature the Documented public screening program, including the Australian premiere of Deepfaking Sam Altman and the Oscar-shortlisted 2000 Meters to Andriivka, alongside an online international marketplace on 11 and 12 March.
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