AIDC Announces FACTory projects and new Indigenous Creators Pitch – The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) is excited to reveal the 15 projects and teams selected to take part in the 10th Anniversary FACTory International Pitching Showcase, held at TheEdge, Fed Square, during AIDC 2025 (2-5 March, ACMI, Melbourne / Naarm).
The FACTory is AIDC’s centrepiece pitching event for new documentary and factual projects, proudly presented by VicScreen since the program’s inception in 2016.
The FACTory 2025 will feature project teams representing 10 nations pitching to local and international commissioning editors, broadcasters, streamers, sales agents, distributors, funders, and festivals, participating both in-person and virtually.
The three pitching strands of The FACTory include the Central Showcase, New Talent Showcase and Rough Cut Showcase, providingopportunities for projects featuring new and established talent at a range of stages of development.
Selected by an international assessment committee for their authentic voices, unique stories, and genuine market potential, the shortlisted Central Showcase and New Talent Showcase teams will present their work to decision makers and an audience of AIDC delegates at Fed Square’s iconic The Edge auditorium on Tuesday 4 March 2025. The Rough Cut Showcase will take place at ACMI on Monday 3 March 2025.
“Celebrating The FACTory’s 10-year anniversary, AIDC is thrilled to present this impressive lineup of projects for the 2025 FACTory International Pitching Showcase. The selections traverse an exciting and varied mix of genres, styles and stories from across the globe including Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, China, India, USA, Mexico and Jordan,”
– said AIDC CEO / Creative Director, Natasha Gadd.
“We are proud to welcome the successful pitching teams to present their unique and courageous projects to a world-class lineup of decision makers for the chance to secure market support and pitch prizes from our international marketplace partners. On behalf of AIDC and Principal Partner VicScreen, we congratulate all teams and wish them well for their pitch at AIDC 2025!”
The projects have the opportunity to undertake intensive pitch training conducted by experienced screen practitioners, including Peter Yam, Owner & Producer, 70 Plus Production Company Limited (Hong Kong), Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director, Women Make Movies (USA), Grant Keir, Film Consultant, Owner & Producer, Faction North Ltd (Scotland), and Miao Wang, Director, Producer & Founder, Three Waters Films (USA).
All projects in The FACTory 2025 will be eligible to win pitch prizes, including two passes to participate in DOK Leipzig 2025 (Leipzig, Germany), two passes to participate in Doc Edge 2025 (Auckland, New Zealand), two festival passes to participate in Sheffield DocFest 2025 (Sheffield, UK), two passes to participate in DMZ Docs Industry 2025 (Paju, South Korea), two passes to participate in Sunny Side of the Doc 2025 (La Rochelle, France), two passes to participate in Docs by the Sea 2025 (Bali, Indonesia), and two passes to participate in Visions du Réel 2025 (Nyon, Switzerland)
Thanks to Getty Images and Audio Network, project teams will also have access to free clips and audio from the Getty Images online library of over 25 million clips and the extensive Audio Network music catalogue to help them prepare their pitch.
In the first decade of The FACTory, international and local decision makers have backed an incredibly diverse range of projects across multiple genres, with more than 117 project teams participating in the pitching showcase.
The 15 projects and teams selected to take part in the 10th Anniversary FACTory International Pitching Showcase are outlined below:
CENTRAL SHOWCASE
ATOMIC PARADISE
Atomic Paradise is a powerful theatrical documentary experience that reframes the atomic bomb testing program of the Pacific region through a First Nations lens in a new and prophetic light.
Director: John Harvey; Producer: Sally Aitken; Executive Producer: Aline
Jacques
SAM Content (Australia)
HEART
A son’s love for his dying father propels one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in history. A machine to replace the human heart.
Director: Alaneo Gloor; Producer: Matt Blyth; Exec Producer: Alex West Millstream Productions (Australia)
HIP HOP LAND
Hip Hop Land is a groundbreaking music documentary series illuminating Indigenous hip-hop’s cultural revolution.
Director: Kim O’Bomsawin; Producer: Chaz Beaudette; Nikan Productions (Canada)
THE PALM PRINT
An international forensic expert and an award-winning journalist, investigate a British psychopath who killed twice in Australia, exposing his deception, arson, and extraordinary ties to three unsolved UK murders.
Producer: Claire Forster; Executive Producer: Celia Tait Artemis Media (Australia)
THE SHAPE OF BLUE
Two Japanese indigo dyers embark on a transformative, inner journey: one uncovers the profound meaning within the hues of blue, while the other gains a new way to see through his colorblindness. Together, they fight to revive a century-old tradition on the brink of disappearing.
Director: Sybilla Patrizia; Producer: Ina Fichman Intuitive Pictures (Canada, Japan)
TESTIMONY
As the climate emergency rises before them, Torres Strait Islanders rise up and sue the Australian Government for climate harm. This is their testimony.
Director: Maya Newell; Producers: Barbara Ibuai, Larissa Behrendt, Sophie
Hyde, Lisa Sherrard, Alex Kelly
Closer Productions (Australia)
TROUBLEMAKER
A massacre survivor and a filmmaker form an unlikely bond as they slip down the rabbit hole of paranoia, in a desperate search for solace and truth.
Directors: Jared Nicholson & Ben Lawrence; Producer: Rebecca Barry Media Stockade (Australia)
NEW TALENT SHOWCASE
CROSSING THE TIDELINE
A surfer is attacked by a great white shark, chillingly captured on drone. The life changing experience sends him on a journey to reconnect with himself and the ocean.
Director: Andrew Kaineder; Co-Writer: Brett Burcher; Producer: Anna
Kaplan
Regen Studios & Stitch Films (Australia)
IN FOCUS
On a quest to unveil the truth about his community, photojournalist Barat Ali Batoor has no idea that he is about to become the subject of his greatest story yet.
Directors: Barat Ali Batoor & Joseph Nizeti; Producer: Leeanne Torpey Chaos & Co. Productions (Australia)
MYTH OF MONSTERS
How far will you fight to belong? Filmmaker Beatrice bares her soul, confronting autism, misdiagnosis, and institutionalisation. She turns her pain into activism to reclaim her story and transform outcomes for women like her.
Director: Beatrice Leong; Producer: Panuksmi Hardjowirogo M’GO FILMS (Singapore, Malaysia)
RESTLESS FAREWELL
Young migrant workers left out of the system, gaining self-awareness on assembly lines. Approaching the end of their youth with a meager salary and fragile friendships, can they escape their parents’ fate?
Directors: Nan Yang & Peiyun He; Producer: Shuhao Tse Independent (China)
UMBRELLAS OF THE ACROBATS
A young acrobat realises his vision is failing, he uses his powers of imagination and storytelling to retain his foothold in a nomadic circus community.
Director: Mukesh Subramaniam; Producer: Ponvishal Chidambaranathan;
Co-Producer: Peter Yam
Elsewhat & Potato Eaters Collective (USA, India)
ROUGH CUT SHOWCASE
ABSTRACT
Two searches are underway in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. One seeks the dead, the other stalks the living. Each pursues the migrant body beyond recognition.
Director: Jaydn Ray Gosselin; Producers: Brianda Gosselin-Hickey, Jacob
Fertig, Chelsea Hernandez
Denizen Studios (USA, Mexico)
JENIN & THE NAKBA BETWEEN US
A diasporic Palestinian filmmaker struggles to make a contemporary portrait of Jenin, her parents’ hometown in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, when her footage takes on radically new meaning post-October 7th.
Director: Serene Husni; Producers: Marc Serpa Francoeur, Rula Nasser Lost Time Media, The Imaginarium Films (Canada, Jordan)
SWEAT IT OUT!
The wild untold story of Oz Rock, of Australia forging its identity through music and an ethos of bands that toured longer, drove further and played harder.
Director: Mark Hartley; Producers: Cathy Rodda, Craig Griffin Sweat It Out Productions (Australia)
In addition to this announcement, AIDC is proud to present its inaugural Indigenous Creators Pitch, a new initiative of the Indigenous CreatorsProgram, proudly supported by Indigenous Business Australia (IBA).
AIDC is inviting submissions from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers with a documentary or factual project in development to take their project to the next level.
The Indigenous Creators Pitch is designed to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators with the opportunity to pitch a project in development to a closed room of local and international buyers looking to support Indigenous-led nonfiction stories and secure potential market support for their project. One project will be selected to receive the $5,000 Indigenous Creators Pitch prize presented by AIDC.
The pitch will be in a roundtable format and all Indigenous Creators Program participants will also be invited into the pitch session to support the pitching teams and glean useful tips in the art of pitching and valuable industry insights from the decision makers in the room.
Pitch participants will present their projects in a roundtable format to the following decision makers:
Kelrick Martin, Head of Indigenous, ABC (Australia)
Dena Curtis, Head of Indigenous Commissioning & Production, NITV (Australia)
Nic Meloney, Executive in Charge of Production, Factual & Documentary, CBC (Canada)
Hollie Fifer, Director of Special Projects, Doc Society (Australia, UK) Robert Y. Chang, Co-Producer POV, American Documentary | POV (USA)
The 10th Anniversary FACTory International Pitching Showcase will take place during AIDC 2025, held 2-5 March at ACMI, Melbourne / Naarm, with follow-up meetings happening in-person and also during the AIDC online international marketplace 6-7 March 2025.
The Indigenous Creators Pitch will take place during AIDC 2025 on Tuesday 4 March 2025. Applications to participate in the pitch close Tuesday 28 January 2025.
Media Release – AIDC
Link to AIDC HERE
TV Central News content HERE
AIDC Announces FACTory projects and new Indigenous Creators Pitch
