Australian International Documentary Conference
Must-see Oscar-nominees 'Black Box Diaries' and 'Sugarcane' lead the lineup at this celebration of factual filmmaking.
Overview
All truth, no fiction: if that's how you like your movies, then you'll want to hit up the Australian International Documentary Conference when it returns to Melbourne for 2025 from Sunday, March 2–Wednesday, March 5. Each year, this celebration of factual filmmaking hits up the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Federation Square to talk about the format and screen flicks — and its latest lineup is mighty impressive.
The event's timing means that each year's Oscar-nominees for Best Documentary Feature are often a big highlight in a variety of ways, including via screenings and getting their filmmakers chatting. Black Box Diaries director and subject Shiori Ito, plus Sugarcane co-directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, are both on the speaker list — and you can watch their powerful docos on the public program.
Some sessions throughout AIDC are only for conference delegates, with pass details varying. Thankfully, the public screenings let you snap up individual tickets to catch documentary must-sees on the silver screen. With Black Box Diaries, Ito chronicles her investigation of her own sexual assault after the police declined to prosecute the culprit. In Sugarcane, NoiseCat also tells a personal tale — one of intergenerational trauma linked to one of the Catholic Church-run Indian residential schools in Canada, after unmarked graves were discovered.
Or, also connected to AIDC's 2025 theme 'future telling', you can check out the innovative About a Hero, Oscar-shortlisted Hollywoodgate and hybrid documentary The Wolves Always Come at Night.
Information
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