Antenna Documentary Film Festival invites Australian filmmakers nation-wide to submit their documentary feature films to its 7th Rough Cut Lab, to be held in July 2026. 

The Antenna Rough Cut Lab is a workshop designed to pair local filmmakers with industry mentors from around the world, supporting them in refining their films and completing them with clarity and confidence, while identifying new paths to global audiences.

Three to four feature-length documentaries at rough-cut stage will be selected for the Lab, and their creative teams will receive access to these international experts and decision-makers and be provided coaching and advice on storytelling, editing, marketing, sales and festival strategies. 

Antenna Rough Cut Lab is provided free of charge, thanks to the support of Screen NSW and Screen Australia. 

The Rough Cut Lab Mentors this year are:  

Jenny Raskin – Jenny Raskin is an American documentary producer, director, and executive. She currently serves as Executive Director of Impact Partners, an equity funding body dedicated to supporting independent documentary storytelling. For more than fifteen years, she has worked closely with filmmakers to develop projects, secure financing, refine creative strategies, and navigate the path from production to audience engagement. Through Impact Partners’ pioneering equity investment model, Raskin helps support a select group of documentary projects each year with funding, mentorship, and strategic guidance. Impact Partners-supported films have premiered at leading international festivals and received the industry’s highest honours, including Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, and Peabody Awards

Kirsten Johnson – Kirsten Johnson is an Emmy Award-winning American documentary filmmaker and cinematographer whose work has helped shape contemporary nonfiction cinema. Over a career spanning more than three decades, she has served as cinematographer on landmark documentaries including Citizenfour (2014), The Invisible War (2012), Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), and The Oath (2010). As a director, she is best known for Cameraperson (2016), a groundbreaking autobiographical documentary and Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020), which premiered at Sundance and earned a Special Jury Award for Innovation in Nonfiction Storytelling as well as a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing. Renowned for her distinctive approach to documentary storytelling and visual ethics, Johnson is widely regarded as one of the most influential voices in nonfiction filmmaking today.

Simon Price – Simon Price is a New Zealand-based award-winning documentary and fiction film editor. Simon has brought his craft and story skills to acclaimed feature films and documentaries including Ruin (2013), Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013), Free in Deed (2015), The Leunig Fragments (2019), Martha: A Picture Story (2019), In My Blood It Runs (2019), Fire in the Mountains (2021), Man on Earth (2022), Bad Behaviour (2023). Widely respected for his editorial insight and storytelling expertise, Simon has collaborated with filmmakers across Australia and internationally on award-winning documentary and narrative projects.

The Antenna Rough Cut Lab will be held on the 29th and 30th of July 2026. Applications are now open and will close on July 10. 

ENQUIRIES – wen@antennafestival.org