AIDC 2026 reveals nominees, first dual Southern Light Award winners and screening program

Ahead of the 6th Annual AIDC Awards, the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) – which will be hosted at Melbourne’s ACMI from 2 to 5 March 2026 – has revealed this year’s nominees, recognising outstanding contributions to nonfiction screen, digital and audio media.

The AIDC Awards support local documentary making across six categories with varying cash awards. Including recent film festival favourites like The Golden Spurtle and The Colleano Heart (now streaming on SBS on Demand), the shortlisted titles represent the broad spectrum of Australia’s documentary storytelling, spanning culturally significant stories to powerful portraits of people and places shaping our world. (Find the full list of nominees below.)

Additionally, the AIDC has also revealed the line-up for this year’s Documented public screening program, as well as the first-ever dual recipients of the AIDC Southern Light Award.

The winners of the 2026 AIDC Southern Light Award

Presented by AIDC for the third time in 2026, the AIDC Southern Light Award awards a $5000 cash prize to an Australian industry professional for their outstanding contribution to nonfiction screen, digital and/or audio media.

In a first for the award, two winners have been selected for 2026, Karla Hart and Simon Nasht.

Karla Hart is one of Australia’s most influential First Nations screen practitioners – a Noongar filmmaker, producer, and cultural leader whose work has reshaped nonfiction and narrative storytelling on national platforms.

Simon Nasht is a passionate advocate for documentary storytelling, with a career spanning the globe and encompassing hundreds of hours of nonfiction filmmaking.

‘Karla Hart and Simon Nasht … individually exemplify the scope of what is meant by outstanding contribution to the industry and the form,’ said AIDC CEO and Creative Director Natasha Gadd.

‘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.’

Thanks to a donation by an anonymous member of the AIDC Board, the winners will each receive a $5000 cash prize and be invited to speak at the AIDC Awards Presentation on 5 March 2026.

2026 Documented screening program

Taking place alongside this year’s conference, the annual Documented screening program returns with a tightly curated selection of documentaries from around the world. Informed by the AIDC 2026 theme ‘Hold True’, this year’s program 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).

Documented screening sessions are open to the public and will be held at Melbourne’s ACMI Cinemas in Fed Square from 2 to 5 March. Tickets can be purchased online via the ACMI website or in person from the ACMI ticket desk.

Full list of nominees for the 2026 AIDC Awards

Best Feature Documentary

• The Colleano Heart
• Deeper
• The Golden Spurtle
• Iron Winter
• Yurlu | Country

Best Documentary/Factual Series

• Annabel Crabb’s Civic Duty (2025)
• The Kimberley (2026)
• The People Vs Robodebt (2026)
• Revealed: Death Cap Murders (2025)
• When The War Is Over (2025)

Best Documentary/Factual Single

• Emily: I Am Kam
• Island of the Dead
• Killer Whale: Australia’s Megapod
• PNG: Road to Independence
• The War Below: Restoring Hope in the Solomon Islands

Best Short-Form Documentary

• Aṉangu Way
• Bringing His Spirit Home
• In the Depths of Her Memory
• Wieambilla Reconstructed

Best Audio Documentary

• Broken Trust
• Fallout: Spies on Norfolk Island
• Skase: Fall of a Tycoon
• Toy Soldier

Best Interactive/Immersive Documentary

• The Great Kimberley Wilderness
• We Were Children Once
• The World Came Flooding In

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.

AIDC 2026: Hold True takes place from 2 to 5 March in-person at ACMI in Melbourne, with an online international marketplace happening from 11 to 12 March.

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