2026 AWARD NOMINEES:

BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY 

The Colleano Heart

2025 | WildBear Entertainment  | Director/Writer: Pauline Clague | Co-Writer: Ljudan Michaelis-Thorpe | Producer: Kate Pappas  | Executive Producer: Bettina Dalton 

Deeper

2025 | Stranger Than Fiction | Director: Jennifer Peedom | Producers: Blayke Hoffman, Jennifer Peedom, Paul Ryan 

The Golden Spurtle

2025 | Hytra Films, Hopscotch Films | Director: Constantine Costi | Producers: Rebecca Lamond, John Archer

Iron Winter

2025/2026 | Repeater Productions | Director: Kasimir Burgess | Producers: Ben Golotta, Morgan Wright, Chris Kamen

Yurlu | Country

2025 | Illuminate Films | Director: Yaara Bou Melhem | Producer: Yaara Bou Melhem | Executive Producers: Maitland Parker & Chris Kamen | Co-Producers: Tom Bannigan & James Saunders

BEST DOCUMENTARY / FACTUAL SERIES

Annabel Crabb’s Civic Duty

2025 | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Director: Stamatia Maroupas | Producers: Jo Chichester (Executive Producer), Madeleine Hawcroft (Series Producer), Tania Doumit (Producer)

The Kimberley

2025 | Wild Pacific Media | Director: Nick Robinson | Producers: Electra Manikakis, Nick Robinson, Peta Ayers, Mark Coles Smith

The People Vs Robodebt

2026 | CJZ | Director: Ben Lawrence | Producers: Michael Cordell, Paula Bycroft, Andrew Farrell

Revealed: Death Cap Murders 

2025 | Dreamchaser, Den of Martians, FIFTH SEASON | Producers: Gil Marsden, Monique Keller, Carl Fennessy, Billy Russell, Mary Lisio, Elissa Johnson, Ariel Richter

When The War Is Over

2025 | Mint Pictures in association with Magdalene Media | Director: Sophie Meyrick | Producers: Dan Goldberg, Rachel Griffiths, Craig Graham, Ili Bare

BEST DOCUMENTARY/FACTUAL SINGLE

Emily: I Am Kam

2025 | Tamarind Tree Pictures Pty Ltd | Director: Danielle MacLean | Producers: Anna Grieve, Danielle MacLean

Island of the Dead

2025 | Ad Hoc Docs, Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Director: Daniel Clarke | Producer: Daniel Clarke

Killer Whale: Australia’s Megapod

2025 | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Director: Jeff Siberry | Producers: Elle Gibbons, Penny Palmer

PNG: Road to Independence

2025 | WildBear Entertainment, Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Director: Max Uechtritz | Producer: Alan Erson

The War Below: Restoring Hope in the Solomon Islands

2026 | Nine Islands Media, Solomon Islands Local Media Agency | Director: Tuki Laumea | Producers: Tuki Laumea, Cleo Fraser, Elizabeth Osifelo

BEST SHORT-FORM DOCUMENTARY 

Aṉangu Way

2025 | Goguljar Yok | Directors: Tace Stevens in collaboration with Lydon Stevens | Producer: Brooke Collard

Bringing His Spirit Home

2025 | Australian Film Television & Radio School | Director: Dylan Nicholls | Producers: Dylan Nicholls, Sophia Carolyn Wallace

In the Depths of Her Memory

2025 | Bleu Electrik, Playlab Films | Director: Chloe de Brito | Producers: Estephania Bonnett, Chloe de Brito 

Wieambilla Reconstructed

2025 | Guardian Australia | Producer: Lisa Favazzo | Reporter: Andrew Messenger | Sound Designer: Miles Martignoni | Executive Producers: Molly Glassey, Shelley Hepworth

BEST AUDIO DOCUMENTARY

Broken Trust

2025 | Guardian Australia | Producer: Miles Herbert | Reporter: Ben Smee | Sound Designers: Joe Koning, Camilla Hannan | Executive Producers: Hannah Parkes, Shelley Hepworth | Investigations Editor: Marni Cordell

Fallout: Spies on Norfolk Island

2025 | SBS Audio | Producers: Richard Baker, Liz Burnett, Joel Supple, Max Gosford

Skase: Fall of a Tycoon

2025 | ABC Radio National | Directors: Michelle Rayner, Claudia Taranto | Producers: Claudia Taranto, Kirsti Melville, Jake Morcom, Sarah Allely, Emrys Cronin

Toy Soldier

2025 | CBC in association with Mint Pictures | Directors: Dan Goldberg | Producers: Greg Crittenden & Ilina Ghosh

BEST INTERACTIVE / IMMERSIVE DOCUMENTARY

The Great Kimberley Wilderness

2024 | White Spark Pictures | Director: Briege Whitehead | Producers: Jodie Bell, Benn Ellard, Ella Wright

We Were Children Once

2025 | Soul Vision Films, Disruptor Studios | Director: Peter Hegedus | Producers: Bobbi-Lea Dionysius, Peter Hegedus

The World Came Flooding In

Year: 2025 | Film Camp | Directors: Isobel Knowles, Van Sowerwine | Producers: Philippa Campey, Isobel Knowles, Van Sowerwine