AIDC 2026 runs in Melbourne from 2–5 March under the theme Hold True, celebrating documentary resilience.
Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) returns with a program exploring truth, creativity and sustainability in documentary filmmaking. AIDC 2026 brings together the documentary and factual community during a time of increased censorship, unregulated new technologies and industry contraction, calling for creators to safeguard creative practice and the principles of truth.
Running across four days with an online international marketplace to follow, the conference will spotlight the creativity, innovation and advocacy driving the future of documentary through screenings, industry sessions, spotlight speakers and marketplace initiatives.
Five sub-themes shape the AIDC program: Truth States, Forward Focus, Change Agents, Field of Vision and State of the Nation.
AIDC 2026
- What: Australian International Documentary Conference
- When: 2–5 March 2026
- Where: Melbourne/Naarm
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
View this post on Instagram
First speaker announcements for AIDC showcase industry leaders at the forefront of documentary storytelling. Aloke Devichand heads documentaries at Mindhouse, the BAFTA-winning production company founded by Louis Theroux, where he’s executive-produced titles including Netflix series Can I Tell You a Secret? and upcoming feature Hanging by a Wire. As a former Netflix commissioner, he oversaw Oscar-winning The Elephant Whisperers and Emmy-winning Hope Frozen, and previously served as a global commissioner for Al Jazeera’s acclaimed Witness strand.
Emmy-winning filmmaker Rita Baghdadi co-founded Lady & Bird Films, remaining at the forefront of ethical storytelling. Known for Sirens (2022), Finding the Light (2024), My Country No More (2019) and City Rising (2018), Baghdadi has received recognition as a Concordia fellow, Sundance fellow, Film Independent fellow and Chicken & Egg Awardee.
Tom McDonald serves as Executive Vice President of Content at National Geographic, overseeing television, streaming, editorial, digital and social across all platforms including Disney+. Since joining in 2023, he’s helped drive a bold content strategy receiving recognition from the Emmys, Critic’s Choice, BAFTA, RTS, Peabody Awards and the James Beard Foundation. Before National Geographic, McDonald spent a decade at the BBC in senior commissioning and production roles.
Maya Daisy Hawke edited Oscar and double Sundance Audience Award-winning Navalny and Oscar-nominated Sugarcane, which won the Directing Award at Sundance 2024. She co-edited Cave of Forgotten Dreams for Werner Herzog and has supervising and consulting editor credits including Oscar nominee Black Box Diaries, The Dating Game, River of Grass and After a Revolution. Hawke has been an advisor at seven Sundance labs since 2017 and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
AIDC Hold True reflects both celebration and call to action for the documentary community, fortifying a sustainable future for filmmakers, the sector and storytelling itself.
For more information, head here.
