ACMI Stories & Ideas

Japanese denim is now considered the Rolls Royce of denim in the world today. In light of our screenings of Devin Leisher's revelatory documentary Weaving Shibusa, some of Melbourne's great retailers in, and wearers of Japanese denim came together to discuss their love and admiration for these highly prized wardrobe pieces. Joining Film Programmer James Nolen on the panel were Chris Pickings (Pick...

Fire At Sea is a masterly work of documentary filmmaking about the Mediterranean island at the epicentre of the refugee crisis in Europe. Panel discussion by filmmaker and cinematographer Bentley Dean (Tanna) will moderate a discussion with lawyer, filmmaker and President of Liberty Victoria, Jessie Taylor; journalist and editor Michael Green (They Cannot Take the Sky, Behind the Wire); Behind the...

No network – commercial or otherwise – has fully escaped being the centre of some kind of public outrage and disgust over the last few years. But is audience provocation in the factual space really such a bad thing? In the competitive world of television, a parade of “ground-breaking social experiments” are just some of the ways that networks can make their mark. Adrian Swift (Head of Content Prod...

At a time when fake news is said to have helped swing an election result, finding varied and reliable sources of information has never been more important. But with traditional broadcast platforms under siege from a slew of digital competitors expanding at a rate of knots, how do we ensure the integrity of storytelling in our post truth world? With social media posts and audience comment providing...

Storytelling is at the core of all human art. Storytelling provides a way of sharing and interpreting experiences, bringing an understanding and meaning of human existence. Throughout history, storytelling has evolved through different media from verbal into written, from theatre into film, and now into Virtual Reality. VR is empowering storytellers with new tools and platforms to produce innovati...

Jason Scott is a Free Range Archivist and Software Curator at the Internet Archive, a non-profit tasked with saving the content of the world. His work includes everything from overseeing the mass ingestion of data, to running metadata/description programs against collections, or reaching out to third parties to discuss partnerships with the Internet Archive.

After the stunning success of Netflix’s Making a Murderer and HBO’s The Jinx, it seems that true crime is on the mind of every TV commissioning editor the world over. These two shows are just the tip of the iceberg of an amazing array of documentary, factual and unscripted programming that are drawing in big business and big bucks for producers and broadcasters alike. Internationally, unscripted s...

Kids are living the content dream. As viewers, they demand content streamed direct to their personal devices wherever they are, whenever they want it. As creators they are prolific - shooting, editing and sharing films with friends and family from wherever they are, as often as they are allowed! So how is the kids domestic and international marketplace responding to this desire for watching and cr...

When documentary and fiction collide, these films, and their creators, challenge conventions of how we tell, and how we respond to stories on screen. These are the films that grow between the cracks of narrative and documentary. They are not without their detractors, but increasingly, such innovative forms of filmmaking are opening up new platforms for filmmakers to exhibit their work and entice n...

Filmmakers, their funders, sales agencies, PR firms, and festivals are all increasingly invested in knowing how exactly films can make social change - that is, "impact," for short. This is a unique moment as the sector is still in the early stages of defining itself, its terms, language, best practice, expectations and how it understands change and success. But how shall we measure impact, and who...

The case of the San Antonio Four explored in Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four is one of many crimes in which the sexuality of the accused (four queer Latina women), is used as damning evidence of their guilt. This panel will draw on true crime documentaries including Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hoods, The Staircase and The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durs...

The world is entering a new era with hacking, targeted use of social media and ‘fake news’ challenging our ideas of the role of media in a democracy, and many hard fought social justice gains coming under attack. In this context the role and responsibilities of media makers and technologists becomes critically important - particularly in challenging the emboldening of sexist and racist ideas. How...

How local AR/VR producers can use the global market VR Plus Have you heard? By 2020, revenue from Augmented/Virtual Reality is forecast to reach $160 billion. Obviously there has never been a better time to get involved. But what does this mean for AR/VR documentary producers based in Australia? With so much investment funding and resources overseas, what is the best way to tap into them? What are...

Alternative Pathways to an Infinite Audience The fast-changing evolution of the distribution landscape is one of the most vexing and unnerving issues facing the screen industry today. New and fragmented consumer practices have severely disrupted the domination of the traditional release chain, while a deluge of cheap digital content erodes the profitability of alternative revenue streams. In this...

The Kid Warrior himself, Xiuhtezcatl (shu-tez-cat) Martinez appeared in this special schools-only presentation during his debut Australian Tour. Meet the 16 year old American Indigenous eco warrior and hip hop artist who is leading a new generation of environmental change makers, taking a brave stand on climate change and environmental issues, and reminding us of what’s at stake for his generation...

Creative Entrepreneurship Spotlight - The story of CultureLabel.com & other creative industries pioneers Peter Tullin is a serial entrepreneur and Co-Founder of CultureLabel.com, a venture capital funded ecommerce site retailing art and design products from leading international culture brands including Tate, V&A and British Museum. Having grown the idea from scratch CultureLabel.com was successfu...

Following the a screening on Sunday 26th February, filmmaker Kirsten Johnson and Australian International Documentary Conference CEO, Andrew Wiseman joined ACMI's Head of Film Programs, James Hewison in conversation about her remarkable film. A boxing match in Brooklyn; life in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina; the day of a Nigerian midwife; an intimate family moment: these scenes and others are wo...

Russell Briggs, Director of Exhibitions & Collections ACMI As the source material for big pop-culture exhibitions begins to be locked up more and more by people who claim ownership of the IP, it becomes increasingly difficult to find fertile areas of exploration that could be transformed into large-scale shows with universal appeal for international touring. For cultural institutions that want to...

Tea Uglow, Creative Director Google Creative Lab Nils Pokel, Digital Experience Manager Auckland War Memorial Museum Sarah Tutton, Senior Curator ACMI VR has been going through yet another cyclical revival driven largely by improvements in hardware resulting in a new surge of public interest. With content relatively scarce, there has been a huge investment from many different sectors in content cr...

An emoji smile has the same effect on the brain as a real smile...and other fascinating reveries. Werner Herzog is a self-confessed technical luddite and poses a terrifying vision of the future in his documentary Lo and Behold, Reveries of a Connected World. Senior Film Programmer Kristy Matheson discusses the big questions on technology with MuseumNext speakers Keir Winesmith Head of Web + Digita...

Julia Kaganskiy, Director of NEW INC and ACMI CEO Katrina Sedgwick discuss the role of 'cultural incubators' in our modern day institutional landscape. Julia is a recognised cultural producer across the art and technology fields. She has been cited by Fast Company (2011) and Business Insider (2013) as one of the most influential women in technology and profiled in the 2012 AOL/PBS series MAKERS ho...

"He looks superbly rock-n-roll in every connotation of the word." Media Production Team Leader Richard Greenhalgh talks with Senior Film Programmer Kristy Matheson about the upcoming film season on Jim Jarmusch, his distinctive directorial approach and his fabulous cameo characters.

Since 1988, when his first film Fleurs (1987) was presented as a background for a weather broadcast on French television, Philippe Parreno has sought to redefine the exhibition experience. Working with the exhibition itself as a medium, Parreno explores its possibilities beyond the presentation of individual works to create scripted spaces within which a series of events unfolds. Parreno is a coll...

Working with leading filmmakers such as Danny Boyle and Roman Polanski, Nicolas Becker’s many credits include Gravity, Ex Machina, Wuthering Heights, and Andrea Arnold’s forthcoming American Honey. Join us for a rare opportunity to gain insight into Becker’s unique working methods and multi-disciplinary approach, and learn about designing sound across a wide array of film and arts projects. Illust...

Hope Larson Symposium Interview