Expand your practice

Over its three editions in 2022, 2023 & 2024, Ruby Award-winning AFF Expand Lab brought together renowned mentors and 90 Australian visual, film and media artists. It has fostered creative projects, collaborations, networks, friendships and three major Moving Image Commissions.

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

AFF thanks everyone who contributed to make AFF Expand Lab a groundbreaking and lifechanging experience and acknowledges our partners, The Balnaves Foundation, Samstag Museum of Art, Art Gallery of SA, Illuminate Adelaide and CreateSA. 

Photograph by Naina Sen. Courtesy the artists.

AFF 2026 Expand Moving Image Commission

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The final AFF Expand Moving Image Commission is an immersive moving image installation. Three collaborators - Naina Sen (NT), Naveed Farro (Vic) and Harrison Hall (Vic) - reimagine the cultural connections between West and South Asia.  

Inspired by the communal and secular atmosphere of the courtyard of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya Dargah- a Sufi shrine in Delhi, India - the work celebrates the pluralistic, contemporary legacies of Indo-Persian architecture and Sufi poetry, dance and Qawwali music. 

This moving image work was developed by the three artists who met at AFF Expand Lab 2022. This is the final AFF Expand Moving Image Commission, see below for details of the 2024 and 2025 commissions. 

Free events at Samstag Museum, all welcome

Opening event: Thursday 8 October, 5:00PM-7:00PM

Artist Talk: Friday 9 October, 12:30PM 

Exhibition: 9 October – 4 December 2026 

TIME: Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00AM-5:00PM

Where: Samstag Museum of Art, 55 North Tce, Adelaide, Gallery 2 

FREE ADMISSION

Commissions

A major outcome of AFF Expand Lab is the Expand Moving Image Commission, with three commissions awarded to date for presentation in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

AFF/Samstag 2024 Expand Moving Image Commission

The inaugural AFF/Samstag $60,000 Expand Moving Commission was awarded to Susan Norrie (NSW), Matthew Thorne (SA) and Emmaline Zanelli (SA). Premiered at Adelaide Film Festival 2024, the artists presented 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/Samstag 2025 Expand Moving Image Commission

The $100,000 Expand Lab 2025 Moving Image Commission was 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. This multi-channel installation draws on experimental performance, surrealism and dark humour to examine the way wellness subcultures can be co-opted to sell individualistic visions of liberty and success. A series of compelling character studies of the ‘alpha’ personalities and fitness evangelists that populate the manosphere, the work examines the psychological mechanisms of rejecting failure, vulnerability and introspection, and the pursuit of infinite growth at any cost.

5 STEPS was exhibited as part of AFF 2025 at Samstag Museum of Art from 16 October – 5 December 2025 and received critical acclaim.

“5 STEPS fits a multitude of messages in its brief 23-minute runtime but feels as though it is ultimately a call to action, asking us to reach out a hand to those at risk of drowning in the falsehoods of commodified wellness.” The Conversation.

AFF 2026 Expand Moving Image Commission

The $100,000 Expand Lab 2026 Moving Image 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 will be exhibited in the 2026 Adelaide Film Festival.

Accolades

Contact

For further information:
Email: info@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.