Expand your practice

Adelaide Film Festival’s Expand Lab is a collaborative development initiative where 30 Australian visual artists, video artists, filmmakers, writers, and XR and VR creatives come together to learn from each other, work with renowned mentors, and develop bold new moving image projects for Australian audiences and beyond.

It was launched in 2022 as a major professional development opportunity to take place alongside the annual Adelaide Film Festival and continues AFF’s commitment to supporting screen-based practice and its crossover with visual arts and interactive media.

Participants are selected through a competitive Expression of Interest process. There is no cost to attend the Lab and participants are supported with travel, accommodation and per diems. Mentors are highly experienced and accomplished artists, practitioners and producers who provide guidance and inspiration throughout the five full-time days of the Lab.

There have been two labs to date in 2022 and 2023 with AFF Expand Lab 2024 being held from 1-8 November 2024.

Commissions

A major outcome of AFF Expand Lab is the AFF/Samstag Moving Image Commission, with two commissions awarded in 2022 and 2023.

AFF Expand Lab 2022 Commission

Samstag Museum of Art
11 October – 29 November 2024

The inaugural AFF/Samstag $60,000 Expand Moving Commission was awarded to Susan Norrie (NSW), Matthew Thorne (SA) and Emmaline Zanelli (SA). Premiering at Adelaide Film Festival 2024, the artists present three experimental docu-fiction moving image works – FALLOUT by Susan Norrie, Extraction by Matthew Thorne and I take care of what’s mine by Emmaline Zanelli. In three chapters, they follow the narrative threads of mining in Australia, focusing on fly-in-fly-out workers, their families, environmental impacts and the complex relationship experienced by First Nation custodians of the land on which resource extraction takes place. Together they offer counter perspectives to frequently cliched assumptions, excavating a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of this underrepresented but critical sector of contemporary Australia.

AFF Expand Lab 2023 Commission

$100,000 EXPAND 2025 Moving Image Commission awarded to Anna Lindner (SA), Nisa East (NSW) and Yasemin Sabuncu (SA) for 5 STEPS FOR BETTER LIVING, MAXIMUM GAINS AND MANIFESTING YOUR MOST OPTIMISED SELF! A satirical, critical reflection on the trends of hyper-masculinity in times of existential crisis. The work will premiere at the Samstag Museum as part of the 2025 Adelaide Film Festival.

Accolades

Contact

Julianne Pierce
Special Initiatives Manager
Email: julianne@adelaidefilmfestival.org

AFF Expand Lab is an initiative of Adelaide Film Festival with Principal Partner The Balnaves Foundation, and the Government of South Australia, Samstag Museum of Art, Art Gallery of South Australia and Illuminate Adelaide.