2025 AIDC Awards Nominees & Winners

Congratulations to all the nominees and the winners of the 2025 AIDC Awards, and the recipient of the 2nd annual Southern Light Award.

We wish to thank the 2025 Awards Jury and Awards Pre-Selection Committee, and proudly acknowledge the support of our 2025 AIDC Awards partners, Film Finances and AFTRS.

2025 Best Feature Documentary Nominees

Left Write Hook
2024 | Sweetshop & Green

Seven survivors of childhood sexual abuse respond to a call-out to take part in an experimental recovery program. Designed by boxing coach, academic, and survivor herself, Donna Lyon, the program addresses both the physical and emotional impacts of trauma through a unique combination of boxing and creative writing. But what begins as an eight-week plan for the participants soon becomes much more. Over the course of eighteen months, with intimate and privileged access, we follow their journeys, forging bonds that lead to unexpected transformations. ‘Left Write Hook’ is a powerful and timely exploration of resilience, expression and healing that will redefine what it means to be a survivor of childhood sexual abuse in Australia.

Director: SHANNON OWEN | Producers: GAL GREENSPAN, ALICE BURGIN, RACHEL FORBES

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Porcelain War
2024 | Songbird Studios in association with Imaginary Lane

Amidst the chaos and destruction of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, three artists defiantly find inspiration and beauty as they defend their culture and their country. In a war waged by professional soldiers against ordinary civilians, Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko, and Andrey Stefanov choose to stay behind, armed with their art, their cameras, and, for the first time in their lives, their guns. Despite daily shelling, Anya finds resistance and purpose in her art, Andrey takes the dangerous journey to get his young family to safety abroad, and Slava becomes a weapons instructor for ordinary people who have become unlikely soldiers. As the war intensifies, Andrey picks up his camera to film their story, and on tiny porcelain figurines, Anya and Slava capture their idyllic past, uncertain present, and hope for the future.

 

Directors: BRENDAN BELLOMO, SLAVA LEONTYEV  | Producers:  CAMILLA MAZZAFERRO, ANIELA SIDORSKA, PAULA DUPRÉ PESMEN AND OLIVIA AHNEMANN

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FLATHEAD
2024 | PORTMANTEAU PICTURES

Despite his ailing health, Cass hits the road for his long-forsaken regional childhood home of Bundaberg. Cass’ memories are reignited as he opens his heart to a spiritual exploration amongst the community. This journey finds him being born again by Baptist Christians and culminates in experimental therapy from new-age Buddhists. On this journey, Cass crosses paths with a local fish and chip shop worker, Andrew. Andrew is a second-generation Chinese Australian who is suddenly confronted with the death of his father. Cass and Andrew’s stories of loss intertwine, and see them exchange emotional comfort during their most turbulent times.

Director: JAYDON MARTIN  | Producer: PATRICK MCCABE

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WELCOME TO BABEL
2024 | NIRVANA FILMS, MAYFAN, LICHTBLICK FILM

Jiawei Shen is an obsessive, determined man. But his latest project – ‘Tower of Babel’ – is crazy even for him (according to his wife, fellow artist Lan Wang). His goal is to paint an epic mural on the turbulent history of Communism, a work that he says will give meaning to his whole life. As Jiawei paints his masterpiece, he and Lan Wang tell their own enthralling stories of lives shared with millions of others in Mao’s China through the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution, before the traumatic events of June 1989 in Tiananmen Square saw them settle in Australia.

Director: JAMES BRADLEY | Producer: GRAEME ISAAC  | Editor:  KAREN JOHNSON

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2025 Best Documentary Factual / Series Nominees

MEGAFAUNA: WHAT KILLED AUSTRALIA'S GIANTS?
2024 | CATALYST, ABC

Australia was once home to a group of extraordinary animals known as Megafauna. These giants lived here for millions of years, but in a blink of time, they disappeared forever.  What became of them has been debated for over a century, but now a team of scientists are re-opening this paleolithic cold case. To find the answer they’ll dive into underwater caves, use the latest technology to build ingenious experiments, and helicopter out onto a remote lakebed to make a once-in-a-generation discovery. Their findings could rewrite the history books, and provide surprising new clues that could once and for all answer: What Killed Australia’s Giants?

Director/Writer/Producer: JEFF SIBERRY | Executive Producer: PENNY PALMER | Series Producer: ELLE GIBBONS

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STUFF THE BRITISH STOLE SERIES 2
2024 | WILDBEAR ENTERTAINMENT, WOODEN HORSE, CREAM

Each episode of ‘Stuff the British Stole’ delves into the intricate and controversial history of objects purportedly taken during the British Empire, revealing the nuanced and often murky truths of how they ended up in the UK. This season’s eight episodes were filmed across 11 different countries, including Egypt, Kenya, Singapore, and Italy. It’s a massive undertaking for a relatively small field crew of five. Every episode features bespoke and distinct animation styles, ranging from full 3D renderings to more avant-garde 2D designs. These animations bring complex chapters of imperial history to life.

Creator/Write/Director/Executive Producer: MARC FENNELL  | Producer: ALAN ERSON | Executive Producers:  RICHARD FINLAYSON, KATE HARRISON KARMAN  

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THE JURY: DEATH ON THE STAIRCASE
2024 | NORTHERN PICTURES

In an Australian television first, we’re restaging a real criminal trial, using actors reciting court transcripts word-for-word. But just as in a real court, the twelve jurors are everyday Australians. We go behind the scenes of the jury room, where cameras and recording devices are normally strictly prohibited, to witness how a cohort of 12 strangers interprets confounding evidence, how they judge the motives and expertise of witnesses and decode the ingenuity of defence and prosecution tactics.

Director: TOSCA LOOBY  | Producer: KARINA HOLDEN

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RAY MARTIN, THE LAST GOODBYE
2024 | BBC STUDIOS PRODUCTIONS AUSTRALIA

As one of Australia’s most experienced journalists, Ray Martin has seen and done more than most in his lifetime. Over the course of this three-part documentary series, Ray now takes an investigative deep dive into one of the nation’s last taboos – death. In planning his own funeral, Ray will discover the trends, rituals, practicalities, and emerging tech around the way we lay ourselves to eternal rest. It’s a poignant, revealing and, at times, humorous quest that will send Ray down the rabbit hole of dirges and vigils, cryonics and body composting, ancient rituals and inventive celebrations.

Executive Producers: SKY KINNINMONT, DEBORAH SPINOCCHIA | Series Director: BENJAMIN JONES

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2025 Best Documentary / Factual Single Nominees

TOUGH NOT TOXIC
2024 | ABC COMPASS

Darryl Gardiner has been a victim, an offender and a survivor of violence. A compelling voice in the conversation about Australia’s domestic violence crisis, Darryl teaches positive masculinity and uses boxing to empower communities and help break the cycle.

 

Director: MATT DAVIS | Editor: PETER OʻDONOGHUE | Executive Producer: AMANDA COLLINGE

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NOT IN MY NAME
2024 | ABC COMPASS

‘Not In My Name’ navigates a labyrinth of sensitivity to bring an important but hidden story to light. Since Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel, growing numbers of Australian Jews broke ranks with mainstream Jewish groups supporting Israel’s military campaign. Many were frustrated their criticism of Israel was being conflated with anti-semitism. It fell to Compass to show that strongly differing views within the Jewish community could be expressed with balance and respect. We profiled Antony Loewenstein, a prominent critic of the war in international media, but still in Australia derided by some pro-Israel groups as an outlier or ‘self-hating Jew’.

 

Producer/Director: BRIETTA HAGUE | Editor: PETER OʻDONOGHUE | Executive Producer: AMANDA COLLINGE

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GAYRABIA
2024 | ABC COMPASS

Award-winning documentarian Patrick (Pat) Abboud takes us inside a hidden world, where pretending to be someone you’re not, is sometimes the only way to survive. It’s a world where being queer is still a crime and ‘coming out’ comes with severe consequences. Keeping your sexuality, or gender identity a secret becomes a full-time job. It can be a risky existence – many feeling trapped in complicated lives. But the brave people you’ll meet in this documentary are changing that in a big way. With safe, exclusive access, Pat meets those who want to be more than silent shadows in their own world – they’re ready to collectively ‘come out’.  While Pat confronts his own complex past living a double life in western Sydney, he lands deep in the thrilling, emotional and thorny lives of queer-identifying Australian Arabs creating their own rules to thrive. 

 

Director/Producer/Presenter: PATRICK ABBOUD | Editor: DANIELLE AKAYAN | Director of Photography: DANIEL HARTLEY-ALLEN | Executive Producer: AMANDA COLLINGE

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2025 Best Short-Form Documentary Nominees

MAHIKA KAI
2024 | GARUWA, MONSTER CHILDREN, LAKE WĀNAKA

Set against the wild terrain of Wānaka, ‘MAHIKA KAI’ follows a family of Kāi Tahu cultural conservators on their mission to rehabilitate disintegrating landscapes through the regeneration of their traditional food gathering practices. Tūmai Cassidy’s tautiakitaka (guardianship) draws on the wisdom of his ancestors, restoring both Māori food sources such as tuna (eel) and Weka (bird), as well as the language intrinsic to these practices. Tūmai’s Whānau (family) hold a deep connection to, and understanding of, this place. Their efforts in caring for Country are overcoming the destruction of colonisation that caused the decline of their whenua (land), bringing vitality and renewed growth to their communities and the local ecosystems.

 

Director/Producer: KIERAN MPETYANE SATOUR  (Gurundji/Malngin, Pertame Arrernte, Worimi & Baloch (Afghan)) | Producers: JAMIE BREWER, GIZELLE REGAN, and RAMONA TELECICAN

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ALOFA
2024 | BROKEN HILL FILMS

Growing up in a deeply religious Samoan family, Andre Afamasaga struggled with reconciling his sexual identity along with his culture and faith. 

 

Writer/Director/Producer: RACHEL LANE  | Director of Photography: MATHEW KNIGHT | Editor: KENNY ANG

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TRAILBLAZERS
2024 | SAVAGE FILMS, MILESTONE FILMS, LM FILMS

‘Trailblazers’ tells the transformational journey of the Australian Women’s Football Team from the first FIFA-recognised game in 1979 and the early years of paying-to-play and striking for equal pay in 2015 to co-hosting the largest women’s sporting event on the planet, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It honours the early players who defied the status quo to grow the game for future generations and the rockstar players who are household names today. Participants include Julie Dolan, Sam Kerr, Karen Menzies, Lydia Williams, Moya Dodd, Mary Fowler, Craig Foster and many more.

 

Writer/Director/Producers: MAGGIE MILES, MAGGIE EUDES  | Producer: LUCY MACLAREN

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WHILE WE STILL HAVE TIME
2024 | INDEPENDENT

‘While We Still Have Time’ is the debut from daughter-cum-documentary filmmaker, Ava Grimshaw-Hall, who embarks on a poignant journey to connect with her sperm-donor father John, as he battles an aggressive cancer. Together, they explore their unique bond, seeking understanding and closure amidst life’s uncertainties.

 

Director: AVA GRIMSHAW-HALL | Producers: JASPER CAVERLY, PETA LEE HITCHENS

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2025 Best Audio Documentary Nominees

THIS IS NOT A GAME
2024 | BBC STUDIOS, AUDIBLE

‘This is Not a Game’ is the extraordinary untold story of the internet’s first conspiracy theory, the legend of Ong’s Hat. Marc Fennell will dive deep into a previously unexplored world of tech hippies, eccentric web subcultures and simmering paranoia, uncovering how this tongue-in-cheek artistic experiment backfired on its creator and went on to influence much of what’s wrong with the internet today.

 

Creator: MARC FENNELL

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THE PALESTINE LABORATORY PODCAST
2024 | DROP SITE

This four-part series questions ideas around security, mass surveillance and accountability. It looks at how truth is concealed, myth constructed, and the complicity of governments and media. Hosted by investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein, this podcast examines how Israel is reshaping conflict and population control globally. What happens in Palestine never stays there.

 

Key Creatives: ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN, ELLE MARSH, BETHANY ATKINSON-QUINTON

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THE UNSPOKEN STORY OF ISABEL PEPPER
2024 | ABC RADIO NATIONAL

Early one morning in 1937, Isabel Pepper was driven to Carlton Women’s Hospital, in pain and dying. In the hours before her death, with police at her bedside, the mother of two would keep secret the events that led her there. Producer Fiona Pepper explores the unspoken life and loss of her great-grandmother.

 

Key Creatives: FIONA PEPPER, ANGELA GRANT, MICHELE RAYNER

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2025 Best Interactive / Immersive Documentary Nominees

LAS AWICHAS
2024 | UNF, KINGS COLLEGE LONDON

‘Las Awichas’ (Grandmothers) unfolds through eight interconnected stories in the palms of our hands, where time and boundaries between humans and animals dissolve. Each Awicha has a spirit animal: jaguar, hummingbird, condor, gecko, spider, whale, monkey, llama; robots from the future, carrying the past in their mechanical parts. Their stories happen in our palms as a metaphor that our grandmothers made us part of this world and it’s our turn to decide the future. We are born children of time, in the future and past, destroying natural resources, but somehow we manage to survive. In order to survive we must die; to reach infinity we have to embrace life’s cycle, we have to die for others to be born. A quirky, childish narrator, music and sound, spatial, an orchestra, jungle, city, mechanical sounds. Las Awichas – a Pandora’s box to the possibilities of spatial storytelling, and the cyclical nature of time.

 

Film Futurist/Creative Technologist: VIOLETA AYALA  | Interaction Design: DAN FALLSHAW | 3D Artist: BRIAN CONDORI MARZA

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JULAYMBA
2024 | PHORIA

‘Julaymba’, meaning Daintree in the Eastern Kuku Yalanji (EKY) language, is a transformative Mixed Reality experience. Meet the EKY Traditional Owners of the land and immerse yourself in a world of cultural regeneration, education, and Earth stewardship. As you traverse through the dense rainforest canopy and splash in the majestic falls, experience groundbreaking storytelling techniques and immersive media formats that bring the wonders of the natural world to life in stunning detail.

 

Director: JOSEPH PURDAM | Executive Producer: TRENT CLEWS-DE CASTELLA | Producer/Writer: KIRSTY BURCHILL 

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REVIVAL ROADSHOW
2025 | INDEPENDENT

Set in a speculative future, ‘Revival Roadshow’ is a 17-minute VR experience blending art, cinema, theatre, and immersive sound to critique colonial legacies. Constructed from thousands of archival images from colonial collections, the work centres on a mysterious painting of 17th-century explorer Abel Tasman, unfolding like a dystopian Antiques Roadshow. As surreal, overlapping storylines emerge, viewers navigate a complex web of contested truths through gaze-controlled audio. Challenging the glorification of colonial figures, it exposes history’s fragility and the subjectivity of storytelling. With absurdist humour and sharp critique, ‘Revival Roadshow’ reexamines the myths shaping cultural identities and our roles within them.

 

Directors/Producers: LUKE CONROY, ANNE FEHRES

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2025 Southern Light Award Winner

Celia Tait
Managing Director, Artemis Media

Celia Tait is the co-founder and managing director of Artemis Media, based in Fremantle, Western Australia. She emigrated from the UK in 1993, and together with her late business partner Brian Beaton, was active in pioneering, building and training the factual industry in WA. She continues to mentor screen practitioners. Celia has worked as a writer, producer, director and executive producer and has won many national and international awards for her work. Over the last 25 years Artemis has produced high impact factual TV for domestic and international networks and is renowned for stories that inspire, delight and inform. Celia and her team have pushed the boundaries of factual content, form and inclusivity with creative concepts that bring in big audiences and which help to create social change. These include The Dream House, Don’t Stop the Music, Maggie Beer’s Big Mission, Australia’s Health Revolution with Dr Michael Mosley, the first seven seasons of Who Do You Think You Are?, Saving Andrew Mallard, New Leash on Life, Storm in a Teacup , Every Family has a Secret, Australia’s Sleep Revolution with Dr Michael Mosley, and Ningaloo Nyinggulu. Celia is a passionate advocate for the local and national screen industry and is a member of SPA, the IAGC (Industry Advisory Group Committee), which advises the Screenwest Board, a Committee member of Screen Voice, an association for Australian independent screen producers, and a board member for the International Quorum (IQ) of Producers.

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