Founded on First Nations’ knowledge systems and philosophies, this series celebrates a love for and connection with Country as the way towards a better future. Our Country: First Nations-led documentary series from creator/writer Lille Madden and producer Yale McGillivray exploring what Country means and what’s required to protect it, by revealing the extraordinary yet endangered wonders of the natural world.

Taking a view into Pacific Island culture and the early roots of modern surf, this documentary explores Pacific communities and their connection to the ocean. Wave Riding: The Ancient Sport of Oceania: Feature documentary from director Dinah Lewis Boucher and producer Eliorah Malifa that shares a different side to surf culture not traditionally seen in mainstream media. “Working alongside our partners Doc Society, AIDC, and Screen NSW, the initiative provides crucial industry development and mentoring labs for the five ambitious projects selected and represent the rich diversity of stories in Australia,” he said. “We can’t wait to roll our sleeves up and work with the five teams selected for this year’s Pitch Lab,” she said.ĪFTRS head of documentary Richard Welch said the institution was excited to help develop a new batch of documentary ideas.

Wink said the field for this year’s initiative reflected a “broad canvas of amazing characters and stories that illuminate key justice issues in our community”. Jayson McNamara’s Norita was the inaugural winner of the initiative last year. The training is designed to develop strategies and pathways for non-traditional access to audience and finance for projects that have the potential for an impact campaign. From there, one set of creatives will be selected for pitching opportunities at AIDC 2022. The five teams will develop their project pitch in group and individual sessions before pitching to an industry panel for feedback. The selected projects for this year are feature documentaries Wave Riding: The Ancient Sport of Oceania, Queen to Councillor, Joy, and Catching Crooks, as well as documentary series Our Country.

Mentors include global director of Good Pitch at Doc Society, Malinda Wink, and Screen NSW investment manager Andrea Ulbrick. The projects and participants for the second New Perspectives Pitch Lab have been unveiled, with sessions for the training initiative to commence this week.ĭeveloped through the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Doc Society, and the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), in partnership with Screen NSW, the program consists of seven online coaching workshops and an online pitch event.

Raising the bottom by lisa boucher