In the lead-up to the 2026 Australian International Documentary Conference, taking place 2–5 March at ACMI, Melbourne / Naarm, AIDC has revealed the nominees for the sixth Annual AIDC Awards – Australia’s only dedicated awards for documentary and factual storytelling.
The conference also celebrates the announcement of its first-ever dual recipients of the 2026 AIDC Southern Light Award, recognising “outstanding contributions to non-fiction screen, digital and audio media”.
Together with ACMI, AIDC also announced the line-up for this year’s Documented public screening programme.
Complementing the AIDC 2026 programme, this “tightly curated” selection of documentaries from around the world gives conference attendees and the wider public the opportunity to celebrate the power of non-fiction storytelling on the big screen, featuring some of the year’s most acclaimed documentary titles.
2026 AIDC Awards
Recognising excellence in new Australian documentary and factual content, the AIDC Awards returns for its sixth year, supporting local documentary making across six categories: Best Feature Documentary, with a $5,000 cash prize presented by Film Finances; Best Documentary / Factual Series; Best Documentary / Factual Single; Best Audio Documentary; Best Short-Form Documentary, with a $2,000 cash prize presented by AFTRS; and Best Interactive/Immersive Documentary.
The 2026 AIDC Awards presentation will take place on the final day of AIDC 2026 at ACMI, hosted by Whadjuk Noongar journalist, presenter and author Narelda Jacobs OAM, whose career spans a quarter of a century with Network 10, and includes appearances on NITV and SBS, the ABC, podcasts, documentaries and Australian dramas.
AIDC CEO/creative director Natasha Gadd said: “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.
“The incredible quality of submissions across all categories made for considered and extensive discussions to select the 26 nominated projects – which reflect an impressive breadth of styles and stories.
“Congratulations to all the nominees and thank you to the AIDC 2026 pre-selection committees and juries for their time, expertise and thoughtful deliberations.”
The full list of nominees is available on the AIDC website.
AIDC Southern Light Award
Complementing the category awards, and presented for the third time, the AIDC Southern Light Award offers a $5,000 cash prize presented by AIDC to an Australian industry professional for their outstanding contribution to non-fiction screen, digital and/or audio media.
In a first for the award, two winners have been selected for their excellence. Thanks to a donation by an anonymous AIDC Board member, the winners will each receive a $5,000 cash prize and be invited to speak at the AIDC Awards Presentation on Thursday 5 March.
The 2026 Southern Light Award winners are: Karla Hart, one of Australia’s most influential First Nations screen practitioners — a Noongar filmmaker, producer, and cultural leader whose work has reshaped non-fiction and narrative storytelling on national platforms; and Simon Nasht, a passionate advocate for documentary storytelling, with a career spanning the globe and encompassing hundreds of hours of non-fiction filmmaking.
Gadd added: “A huge round of applause for both of our 2026 Southern Light Award winners, Karla Hart and Simon Nasht, who individually exemplify the scope of what is meant by ‘outstanding contribution’ to the industry and the form.
“Their dedication and commitment to our sector and our stories, and their advocacy and bravery in staying true to themselves and their craft is to be commended, honoured and celebrated.”
Documented 2026
Taking place alongside this year’s AIDC programme, the annual Documented screening programme returns with a tightly curated selection of documentaries from around the world, available to the public.
Happening during AIDC 2026, from 2–5 March, screenings will be held at ACMI Cinemas in Fed Square, Melbourne / Naarm.
Informed by the AIDC 2026 theme, Hold True, this year’s Documented public screening programme will deliver a “timely line-up” of documentary films, including:
- The Australian premiere of the irreverent Deepfaking Sam Altman, directed by AIDC 2026 Spotlight speaker Adam Bhala Lough.
- The gripping, Oscar-shortlisted 2000 Metres to Andriivka by previous AIDC 2024 guest headline speaker Mstyslav Chernov (20 Days in Mariupol).
- A special screening of 2026 Oscar nominee Cutting Through Rocks.
- A free screening of short documentaries from PBS documentary platform POV (executive producer Erika Dilday is an AIDC 2026 guest).
