The Australian International Documentary Conference highlights
The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) is delighted to confirm filmmakers Fredrik Gertten (Sweden), Rolf de Heer (Australia), Dr Paolo Cherchi Usai (Australia) and Leonard Retel Helmrich (Netherlands) as special guests of the 20th AIDC taking place in Adelaide from February 23 to 26. Each of these directors has films screening at the Adelaide Film Festival, taking place concurrently with the conference, and join Keynote Speaker, Alex Graham, UK producer Michael Waldman, writer, filmmaker and broadcaster, Roger Graef, and co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary Born into Brothels, Ross Kauffman as special guests of the AIDC.
Conference Director, Joost den Hartog says, ‘AIDC 2007 is welcoming delegates from over 15 different countries. We are especially happy to welcome filmmakers from New Zealand, China and Singapore. It's good to see that AIDC plays an active role in establishing networks between colleagues in the wider region’
The AIDC is delighted to congratulate producer Diane Weyermann on the Academy Award nomination for An Inconvenient Truth. Unfortunately this means Diane will be treading the red carpet in Hollywood instead of Adelaide this February.
The AIDC is Australia’s key event in the International documentary film calendar and a must-attend event for anyone working in factual film and television. Over 600 producers, directors, writers, buyers, and editors will meet and greet, buy and sell, and pave the way for more Australian documentaries to make it to the world, and more international stories to make it to our screens, while the general public can feast their eyes on over fifty documentaries films screening in the concurrent Adelaide Film Festival.
Alex Graham, the AIDC’s Keynote Speaker will speak on The Anatomy of An Industry. Alex will address issues the Australian industry is facing using his experience in the UK, as Chair of Pact and as an independent producer. Alex has built his company, Wall to Wall, into one of the UK’s leading independent producers. With a reputation for quality and innovation, Wall to Wall has won almost every award on both sides of the Atlantic including several BAFTAs, Emmys, Royal Television Society and Peabody awards.
UK producer/director, Michael Waldman, responsible for some of the world’s finest programmes about the Arts will be presenting a master class, The edit starts during the shoot about editing and story telling in factual entertainment at the conference. Michael’s credits include producing The House series on The Royal Opera Theatre, series producer and director of Operatunity and Musicality, and most recently Ballet Changed My Life: Ballet Hoo! with Birmingham Royal Ballet and Youth at Risk.
Ross Kauffman, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary Born into Brothels will be taking part in the panel discussion, Marketing Cinema Docs. In 2001 Ross teamed up with award winning photojournalist Zana Briski to produce Born into Brothels, a feature documentary about the children of Calcutta's prostitutes. In 2002 Ross formed Red Light Films and, along with Briski, was awarded grants from the Sundance Institute, the Jerome Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts to complete the film.
Super achiever UK writer, filmmaker, broadcaster and criminologist Roger Graef will be participating in The Robin Anderson Inquiry: The Mental State of the Documentary Maker. Roger was awarded the prestigious Fellowship to the British Academy of Film and Television in 2004 for his outstanding contribution and achievements. Among his more than eighty films, Roger is best known for his pioneering work in gaining access to hitherto closed institutions ranging from ministries and boardrooms to police, courts, prisons, probation and social work.
Leonard Retel Helmrich will also be participating in The Robin Anderson Inquiry: The Mental State of the Documentary Maker. Leonard’s latest film PROMISED PARADISE will be screening at the Adelaide Film Festival. It follows Jakarta-based Indonesian puppeteer and troubadour Agus Nur Amal as he travels to Bali to call to account the people who were responsible for the bomb attack on a nightclub there on 12 October 2002.
Director/producer, Fredrik Gertten, is to present the AIDC master class, Selling Docs from Malmö. He has been a filmmaker and journalist for 25 years and has worked around the world for radio, TV and newspapers in Africa, Latin America, Asia and around Europe. He is also a board member of the European Documentary Network. Fredrik's latest documentary as director THE SOCIALIST, THE ARCHITECT AND THE TWISTED TOWER will screen as a part of the 2007 Adelaide Film Festival.
Dr Paolo Cherchi Usai, Director of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, and one of the world’s leading film historians will be joining in conversation with AFI 2007 Best Director recipient (Ten Canoes), Rolf de Heer on the subject of Social Impact; fiction or documentary?. This will be a not to be missed session by these two extraordinary individuals.
