Doco in a Day 2025 ......and the Winner is....

What can you achieve in just one day? For 289 students across Australia, the answer was clear: create powerful documentaries that champion global issues — and help change lives through education.

Doco in a Day challenged students to produce a short film in just 24 hours, tackling topics like gender equality, access to education, and sustainability. But this wasn’t just about filmmaking — it was about fundraising and advocacy, with every dollar raised going directly to the Edmund Rice Foundation to support education in marginalised communities.

Why Doco in a Day?

It’s a creative and active way for students to engage with real-world issues. By combining storytelling with action, students not only learn — they do something about the challenges they explore. The world is falling behind in equal access to education, but through this initiative, students are helping fund life-changing opportunities for those who need it most.

The Impact

All funds raised go to the Edmund Rice Foundation, which currently supports education in six countries — Australia, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, the Philippines, and Timor Leste. With 43 active projects, the Foundation reaches around 50,000 people directly each year, and hundreds of thousands more indirectly. Their work spans formal education, vocational training, community education, and advocacy — with a strong focus on gender equality and disability inclusion.

The Challenge, The Response, The Result

In just one school day, students created 87 short documentaries. The results? Absolutely inspiring. From creative concepts and powerful messages to strong calls for justice, every entry showed heart, talent, and a genuine desire to make a difference.

Judging the Best Doco

With so much quality, choosing a winner was no easy task. That’s why Edmund Rice Foundation enlisted the expertise of:

• Sal Balharrie – acclaimed Australian writer, producer and director
• Archie Chew – talented videographer and editor with a keen eye for powerful stories

After reviewing all entries, they were blown away by the originality, impact and storytelling on show.

And the Winner is.......

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We are very proud to announce that a school from EREA NSW was the chosen winning documentary.  Congratulations to Team UNT from St Patrick’s College, Strathfield! Their documentary took out the top prize, and they — along with their teacher — will be heading to East Africa in 2026 to witness firsthand the incredible impact of their fundraising efforts.

A fantastic fundraising achievement also by St Pius X College, Chatswood, who are currently 4th on the leaderboard for the highest fundraising by schools.

A Life-Changing Journey Awaits

Team UNT’s journey to East Africa will be more than a reward — it will be a chance to see how storytelling and action can transform lives. From classrooms to communities, they’ll see the ripple effect of education and the power of youth-led advocacy.

Doco in a Day 2025 proved that when students are given the tools to create and the opportunity to act, they rise to the challenge — and help shape a better world.

To view all the documentaries submitted nationally, please visit the Doco in a Day 2025 website https://docoinaday.au

For ease of viewing, you can also find all the entries here on Youtube

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