AIDC announce projects and teams selected for FACTory – The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) are excited to reveal the 14 projects and teams selected to take part in the 2026 FACTory International Pitching Forum, proudly presented by VicScreen and held at The Edge, Fed Square, during AIDC 2026 (2-5 March, ACMI, Melbourne / Naarm).
The centrepiece of the AIDC documentary and factual marketplace, this year’s FACTory includes projects representing 16 countries of production, selected by an international assessment committee for their authentic voices, unique stories, and genuine market potential.
The 14 selected projects feature subjects as diverse as Patagonian gauchos, First Nations youth choirs, seahorse researchers, Myanmar’s civil war, CODA families, and technological responses to climate catastrophe.
The three pitching strands of The FACTory include the Central Showcase, New Talent Showcase and Rough Cut Showcase, providing opportunities for projects featuring new andestablished talent at a range of stages of development. All 2026 FACTory project teams will pitch to local and international commissioning editors, broadcasters, streamers, sales agents, distributors, funders, and festivals, participating both in-person and virtually.
“The 2026 FACTory International Pitching Showcase is set to spotlight 14 creative, courageous and unique documentary and factual projects from across the globe, including Australia, New Zealand, USA, Myanmar, UK, France, South Korea, Japan, Tuvalu, South Africa, Chile, Canada, Germany and China”
– said AIDC CEO / Creative Director, Natasha Gadd.
“We are proud to support this talented line-up of flmmakers pitching a broad mix of genres, styles and stories with the aim of securing market support for their projects. On behalf of AIDC and Principal Partner VicScreen, we congratulate all of the pitching teams and look forward to their FACTory pitches at AIDC 2026 and tracking the outcomes to follow!”
Presented by VicScreen since The FACTory’s inception in 2016, international and local decision makers have backed an incredibly diverse range of projects across multiple genres, with more than 132 project teams participating in the pitching showcase.
“The FACTory is where bold ideas meet global opportunity,”
– said VicScreen CEO, Caroline Pitcher.
“VicScreen is proud to champion this dynamic forum at AIDC 2026, giving the most visionary documentary makers, and emerging talent, the chance to pitch their stories to the world. With mentoring, pitch training and direct access to international decision makers, The FACTory is more than a showcase; it’s a launchpad for projects that will captivate audiences everywhere.”
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 3 March 2026.
Presented to a smaller, more targeted group of decision makers, the Rough Cut Showcase will take place at ACMI during AIDC 2026.
The selected projects for the 2026 FACTory International Pitching Forum are:
CENTRAL SHOWCASE
The FACTory’s Central Showcase is designed to present experienced project teams to international decision makers, including commissioners, funders, streamers, distributors, sales agents, and festivals.
CONFIDENTIAL GAS PROJECT
An investigative journalist’s life becomes a real-life spy thriller as he uncovers a global conspiracy to hide the secret deadly impacts of the global gas boom.
Production Company: Grain Media
THE LAST RODEO
(New Zealand, USA, Australia)
Embedded within New Zealand’s tight-knit rodeo scene, The Last Rodeo captures the adrenaline-fueled circuit, as riders and intergenerational families navigate tradition whilst fighting for their sport’s right to exist.
Director: Ursula Grace Williams; Producer: Alexander Behse
Production Company: Monsoon Pictures International
MARLIYA
(Australia, UK)
A choir of Young First Nations women journey from carrying others’ stories to owning their voices, confronting identity, activism and authorship as music carries them from Country to the world.
Director: Stephen Page; Producers: Shontell Ketchell, Ewan Cutler
Production Company: Pandamonium Films
OUR BODIES
(South Korea, Japan)
CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) filmmaker Bora Lee-Kil explores the vibrant Deaf community, sharing stories that challenge disability, normalcy, and reproductive rights.
Director: Bora Lee-Kil; Producers: Sona Jo, Emi Ueyama
Production Company: SonaFilms, ARTicle Films
SAVING TUVALU
(Australia, Tuvalu, Germany)
Young Tuvaluans design a video game to preserve their land and culture before it is lost to rising seas – but can a digital replica save what the ocean will erase?
Directors: Amelia Tovey, Kate Blackmore; Collaborating Director: Kato Ewekia; Producers:
Chris Kamen, Rebecca Barry; Cultural Advisor: Lilivao Roberts
Production Company: Media Stockade, Filmtank
SCENT: THE LANGUAGE OF LIFE
(Australia)
One man’s mission to digitise scent revealed something extraordinary — the language all life speaks.
Directors: Annamaria Talas, Oliver Nasht; Producers: Simon Nasht, Annamaria Talas
Production Company: Smith & Nasht
NEW TALENT SHOWCASE
The FACTory’s New Talent Showcase is designed to present the brightest new screen talents to decision makers and production companies around the world.
ALL FIXED UP
(China, USA)
After trying to “straighten out” their queer heir, a Southwest Chinese family pursues a face-saving masquerade, leading the family into a reconciliation with lies, identity, and a changing vision of their future.
Director: Hao Zhou; Producers: Jenny Wu Man, Tyler Hill
Production Company: Dudububu Ltd
SEAHORSE SCHOOL
(Australia)
Logline: A filmmaker forms an unexpected bond with two marine biologists racing to save a critically endangered seahorse species in one of the world’s busiest harbours as they navigate the challenges of fatherhood.
Director: Harriet Spark; Producers: Rebecca Barry, Chris Kamen
Production Companies: Media Stockade, Grumpy Turtle Films
THE SIMULATION
(Canada, France)
For one week, 3,000 students simulate the UN general assembly, debating how to save the planet and end wars, embodying hope for dialogue in a fragile world.
Director: Justine Harbonnier; Producers: Line Sander Egede, Carine Chichkowsky
Production Company: TAK films, Survivance
SISTERS IN WAR
(Australia, Myanmar)
Two brave sisters turn away from their family duties to join the armed fight against the military Junta, along with thousands who dream of a democratic, ethnically diverse Myanmar. Director: Lay Thida; Producer: Maya Newell
Production Company: Closer Productions
WILD THING: THE REAL CROCODILE DUNDEE STORY (WT)
(Australia)
Behind Australia’s most iconic story is a man erased.
Director: Matt Sterne; Producers: Matt Sterne, Henry Richardson
Production Company: Wild Productions
ROUGH CUT SHOWCASE
The FACTory’s Rough Cut Showcase is designed to present projects in late stages and post-production that need to close financing gaps, and secure sales, distribution and festival opportunities.
HELL HAS NO FIRE ESCAPE
(South Africa, UK, Australia)
Inheriting her husband’s evangelical drug clinic, Ina Dry clings to faith – until an online romance with “Jason Momoa” awakens desires that threaten her ministry and those who rely on her. Director: Georgina Savage; Producers: Sorcha Bacon, Matthew Bate, Rebecca Summerton Production Company: Try Hard Films, Closer Productions
EL PESO DE LA NIEVE (THE WEIGHT OF SNOW)
(Australia, Chile)
In Chilean Patagonia, a dwindling group of gauchos still live a traditional lifestyle, resisting the pull of modernisation. An intimate meditation on isolation, class and climate, punctuated by striking landscapes.
Director: Matias Bolla; Producers: Carolina Sorensen, Cristian Valle Celedón
Production Company: People Productions
WHALES, RATS & KAURI
(New Zealand)
A Māori conservationist’s fight to save whales, forests, and whenua exposes what is truly at stake for Aotearoa’s future.
Directors: Kim Webby, Mike Jonathan; Producer: Kim Webby
Production Company: Tohorā Films
Each of the projects have the opportunity to undertake intensive pitch training conducted by a highly experienced panel of FACTory mentors, including former HotDocs programmer of nearly two decades, Heather Haynes (Canada); film consultant, producer and owner of Faction North Ltd, Grant Keir (Scotland), Head of Acquisition & Strategy, Raina Film Festival Distribution, and Artistic Director, DocPoint Helsinki, Inka Achté (Finland), and founder & producer, Seesaw Pictures, Heejung Oh (South Korea).
All projects in The FACTory 2026 will be eligible to win pitch prizes, including two passes to participate in DOK Leipzig 2026 (Leipzig, Germany), two passes to participate in Doc Edge 2026 (Auckland, New Zealand), two festival passes to participate in Sheffield DocFest 2026 (Sheffield, UK), two passes to participate in DMZ Docs Industry 2026 (Paju, South Korea), two passes to participate in Docs by the Sea 2026 (Bali, Indonesia), two passes to participate in Visions du Réel 2026 (Nyon, Switzerland), and festival consultation and strategy, or six months of free global festival distribution based on a strategy devised by Raina Film Festival Distribution (Finland).
The FACTory International Pitching Showcase will take place during AIDC 2026 (2-5 March 2026, ACMI, Melbourne / Naarm), with follow-up meetings happening in-person and also during the AIDC online international marketplace 11-12 March 2026.
The full program for AIDC 2026: Hold True will be announced on Wednesday 28 January 2026.
Media Release – AIDC
Link to AIDC HERE
TV Central Other content HERE
AIDC announce projects and teams selected for FACTory
