AFF 2026 $100,000 Expand Moving Image Commission Announced
Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) is delighted to announce the recipients of the AFF 2026 $100,000 Expand Moving Image Commission, one of the most significant moving image commissions in Australia.
The commission has been awarded to the three-person team of Naina Sen (NT), Naveed Farro (Vic) and Harrison Hall (Vic) for their collaborative project Through Line. To be exhibited in the Adelaide Film Festival 2026, Through Line is an immersive, sculptural, multimedia installation that reimagines the cultural connections between West Asia and South Asia, specifically focusing on Indo-Persian influences.
The work is inspired by the communal and secular atmosphere of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya Dargah courtyard in Delhi. This multi-channel installation will be framed by sculptural elements inspired by the site in India and will celebrate the pluralistic, contemporary legacies of Indo-Persian architecture, Sufi poetry, dance and Qawaali music.
Through Line was developed at AFF Expand Lab 2024 as part of the Adelaide Film Festival. AFF Expand Lab is a Ruby Award-winning development initiative where 30 Australian visual artists, video artists, filmmakers, writers, and XR and VR creatives come together for a week-long lab to learn from each other, work with renowned mentors, and develop moving image projects for Australian audiences and beyond.
The artists said of being awarded the commission: “Prior to attending AFF Expand Lab in Adelaide we did not know each other. Through this joyous and intensive program the three of us came together through a shared interest in Iranian and Indian knowledge systems that encompass striking architecture, music, and movement. We are thrilled to have received this moving image commission and look forward to sharing Through Line with the diverse audiences of South Australia.”
AFF’s CEO & Creative Director Mat Kesting said: “Adelaide Film Festival thanks all of the participants in AFF Expand Lab 2024 who came together to develop insightful projects exploring a range of issues and themes. This is a unique program in Australia which unites creative practitioners with mentors in a hothouse environment to exchange ideas and aspirations, developing concepts that talk to our local and global opportunities and challenges. I particularly acknowledge the support of the AFF Investment Fund and The Balnaves Foundation for making the AFF 2026 $100,000 Expand Moving Image Commission possible.”
Hamish Balnaves, CEO of The Balnaves Foundation, a key partner of AFF Expand Lab, said: “Congratulations to these outstanding artists and their project Through Line for being awarded the AFF 2026 $100,000 Expand Moving Image Commission. The Balnaves Foundation is honoured to have supported the 2024 AFF Expand Lab and to nurture the ideas and creative brilliance of mid-career and established Australian artists. I look forward to seeing Through Line when it premieres at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2026.”
In addition to the Expand Moving Image Commission, two projects developed at AFF Expand Lab 2024 will receive mentoring to further their concepts. The Black Record is a sound and moving image installation, using signals from outer space, created by Logan Mucha (Vic), Rosina Possingham (SA), Eleanor Scicchitano (SA), Jen Valender (Vic) and Ursula Woods (Tas). This project will be mentored by the Art Gallery of South Australia and Samstag Museum of Art. TIDDALIK, a mixed-reality game and interactive performance created with First Nations and migrant engagement by Arthur Ah Chee (SA), Kaspar Schmidt Mumm (SA) will be mentored by Illuminate Adelaide.
AFF Expand Lab is an initiative of Adelaide Film Festival with Principal Partner The Balnaves Foundation, the Government of South Australia, Samstag Museum of Art, Art Gallery of South Australia and Illuminate Adelaide.