1 June - 10 July 2022
docedge.nz
Welcome to Doc Edge 2022 – a documentary festival like no other.
Documentaries show that down isn’t always out.
113 Films
40 Days
07 Venues
Doc Edge is the home for storytelling that changes your world. Our kaupapa is to celebrate, support and showcase documentary.
Bravely embracing the future of film festivals around the world, Doc Edge is cementing itself as a mustexperience hybrid event with in-person and virtual screenings, allowing all of Aotearoa to connect with the festival and the stories of our world.
“The range and quality of films this year is extraordinary. Brave, inspiring, thought provoking and entertaining.” docedge.nz
Judy Bailey
I Get Knocked Down
Directed by Dunstan Bruce & Sophie Robinson
A Message From Judy Bailey
Welcome to Doc Edge Festival 2022
On behalf of the Doc Edge Board and team, we welcome you to the 17th edition of Doc Edge Festival.
After over two years of “you know what”, we are delighted to return Delta and Omicron to the Greek alphabet where they belong. It is time to celebrate the art of documentary on the big screen at cinemas and smaller screens at home.
Bravely embracing the future of film festivals around the world, Doc Edge is cementing itself as a mustexperience hybrid event with in-person and virtual screenings, allowing all of Aotearoa to connect with the festival and the stories of our world.
In this year’s programme, you will find a jaw-dropping selection of 113 of the latest films from around the globe. Joining the local filmmakers, we are thrilled to welcome back international guests to the Festival.
Screenings are presented across three venues in Auckland: The Civic (CBD), The Capitol Cinema (Balmoral) and Silky Otter (Oraki) and in Wellington across two venues: The Embassy Theatre (CBD) and The Roxy (Miramar). Silky Otter also runs the festival in Christchurch. For anyone who cannot attend the festival in-person, or missed any of the premiere screenings, the Virtual Cinema gives you access to the full programme as well the virtual hub where you can meet filmmakers and other audience from across the country.
Alongside the screenings, Doc Edge offers the most ambitious collection of VR, AR and digital emissive projects as part of the XR Exhibition, screen industry events, schools programme as well as Kiwi radio documentaries to celebrate 100 years of radio in Aotearoa.
Like last year, in-theatre selected films will only screen once in each city, so book your seat early to avoid disappointment. The virtual cinema, nation-wide, has a capacity limit, so get you tickets early. You can rent and watch films with your whanau or friends from the comfort of your own ‘theatre’. If you are a film buff, get a Binge Pass, and films will be added to your library.
The Doc Edge Awards will be held in Auckland at The Civic on 22 June prior to the World Premiere of The Other Fellow (UK). Ticket holders for this film will be able to attend the awards free of charge and be the first to know who won the Oscar consideration for 2023! This year’s Doc Edge Superhero Award is the late Vincent Burke for his outstanding contribution to documentary.
We thank our partners, supporters, and everyone who played a part in making Doc Edge happen. Please support the filmmakers, local businesses, and our not-for-profit home-grown festival. It is time for our team of five million to come together again, this time, to experience a documentary festival like no other.
Ngā mihi nui
Dan & Alex Festival Directors
A very warm welcome to Doc Edge 22 which this year promises to be bigger and bolder than ever.
With our newfound freedoms, the festival gives us the perfect opportunity to get back to the cinema and view the best documentary offerings from around the world on the big screen, just as they should be viewed.
This year Doc Edge is proud to partner with The Capitol Cinema in Auckland, The Embassy in Wellington, and a brand-new collaboration with the boutique cinema, Silky Otter, allows the festival to return to Christchurch.
Of course, if you can’t make it to those venues, Doc Edge has perfected its extensive online offering, thanks to Covid … there must be some benefits!
Alongside more than seventy feature films there will also be thirty nine shorts on offer as well as live Q & A’s with filmmakers, an engaging interactive schools’ programme and events tailored specifically to the screen industry with workshops and the opportunity to pitch ideas for new documentaries. There will also be an XR exhibition incorporating some of the latest digital technology.
The range and quality of films this year is extraordinary. Brave, inspiring, thought provoking and entertaining. Three of the many I’m keen to watch: ‘Outside’, from Ukraine, ‘Only I Can Hear’, a collaboration between Japan, New Zealand and the US, and ‘A Forbidden Orange’, from Spain.
Check out this festival brochure and immerse yourselves for six whole weeks. Indulge, you won’t regret it!
Ngā mihi
Judy
Bailey Doc Edge Champion
Find out more: aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/arts
Kia ora koutou
Doc Edge 2022
Kia ora koutou
Content Ticket Info
Thank You To Our Supporters
Auckland Venues
The Capitol
Built in 1922, Balmoral’s heritage-listed Capitol is Auckland’s second oldest cinema. Renovated most recently in 2009, the cosy 130-seat cinema is plush with large comfortable seating and original decor. The Capitol screens the best in new release arthouse films together with upmarket commercial releases, regular special film events and festivals.
The cinema is licensed and supports local wines, craft beers, a selection of imported brands, six different types of gin and a range of sodas and tonic water. The candy bar also offers hand-rolled, organic Little Island ice creams. 78 Victoria Street West, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010
Booking and Ticket information
Book tickets over the phone 09 623 2000 or online at www.thecapitol.co.nz/doc-edge-festival .
The Capitol Cinema box office will be open during festival time. It opens 30 minutes prior to a performance for you to collect tickets. You can also book tickets for films on the day.
Eating and Drinking
You can enjoy a pre-show drink in the Cinema bar.
Theatre Accessibility
Access For Patrons with Disabilities - Currently it is not possible to install wheelchair access into our cinema. We sincerely apologise for this inconvenience.
Screenings
Screenings will start as scheduled. Latecomers will not be permitted entry once a screening has commenced. Please turn off all electronic devices prior to the start.
Any recordings and photography are strictly prohibited.
Parking and Transport
There is free street parking available near the cinema on Rocklands Ave and on Wiremu Street. Alternatively, there is a paid Secure Parking lot behind the cinema (in the old Warehouse car park). If you're bussing to the Capitol, the 25B and 25L stops right outside and the OuterLink and 650 stop nearby on Balmoral Road.
For other parking options please visit: at.govt.nz
Public transport
Visit Auckland Transport or download the AT app to see what public transport options are available.
https://g.page/thecapitolcinema?share
610 Dominion Road, Balmoral, Auckland 1041
The Civic
A much-loved Auckland landmark located on the corner of Queen Street and Wellesley Street. Built in 1929, The Civic is one of the few remaining atmospheric theatres in the world specifically designed as a 'movie palace' for talking pictures ('talkies'). It’s opulent and dramatic setting includes a domed ceiling with a spectacular starscape and combines 1920's glamour with modern technology.
Booking and Ticket information
Book tickets over the phone or online and at the book office at the Aotea centre prior to the festival 0800 111 999 www.ticketmaster.co.nz The Civic Box Office is to the right of the main entrance (on the corner of Queen Street and Wellesley Street) as you come into the building. It opens 90 minutes before the start of performances.
Eating and Drinking
You can enjoy a pre-show drink in the theatre bar, or for something a bit more substantial, visit Stark’s Café and Bar. Stark’s offers special show-themed cocktails, as well as Caffe L’Affare coffee, tea, and cold drinks. If you’re headed to The Civic for a matinee, you can also enjoy cabinet food such as filled baguettes, croissants, and bagels. It’s a great place to visit for a showtime treat.
Screenings
Screenings will start as scheduled. Latecomers will not be permitted entry once a screening has commenced. Please turn off all electronic devices prior to the start. Any recordings and photography are strictly prohibited.
Theatre Accessibility
The Civic can be accessed by wheelchairs and has lifts and ramps to assist those who have difficulty climbing stairs. To book wheelchair seats for shows in our venues please contact Ticketmaster on 09 970 9711 Please note this is not a general sales line. Be sure to specifically request wheelchair seats.
Companion seats are available for those booking wheelchair spaces. We have two courtesy wheelchairs available at the venue if you or someone you’re coming with has mobility needs. You can book one of these by calling Ticketmaster at 09 970 9711.
The Civic Lift
The Civic was built in 1929 and while it’s a gorgeous building, we know that the foyer spaces can be a bit of a maze. There is a lift available, but it can be difficult to find. We suggest you ask one of our team to show you where it is located as soon as you arrive. They’ll be more than happy to help!
Visually impaired
For every show, visually impaired patrons can call Ticketmaster at 09 970 9745 any time before 5 pm on the day of the show and they will make sure the front of house team is aware of your needs in advance. Guide dogs are welcome at our venues.
Parking and Transport
The Civic Car Park is a short walk from The Civic, making it a great option for attending shows there. It is important, however, to remember that sometimes all our venues are filled with events. Make sure you have a backup parking plan — or book a space in advance. To avoid the payment queues in the Civic car park after the show – use the “pre-pay option” at the payment machines and pre-pay for your parking before attending the show. Keep your ticket safe and drive out straight after the show/event.
Cnr of Queen Street & 269-287
Wellesley Street West, Auckland 1010
Wellington Venues
Parking and Transport
The Embassy
Theatre Accessibility
To book wheelchair seats for shows please contact Ticketmaster on tel: 09 970 9711 .
Screenings
Screenings will start as scheduled. Latecomers will not be permitted entry once a screening has commenced. Please turn off all electronic devices prior to the start. Any recordings and photography are strictly prohibited.
The Roxy
Nestled in the heart of New Zealand’s movie-making capital, Miramar, Wellington, this gorgeous art deco cinema theatre, multi-arts venue and restaurant, is one of the city’s leading attractions.
This versatile multi-arts venue now boasts state of the art sound design and projection technology, two luxurious theatres (capacity 164 & 55), generous Italian leather seats and the ability to enjoy wine and snacks while you watch, making this a very special film experience.
Booking and Ticket information
Tickets can be booked via the Roxy websiteroxycinema.co.nz - or in-house.
The Doc Edge Box Office is located upstairs in the Grand Foyer of The Roxy during festival time. It opens 90 minutes prior to a performance for you to collect tickets. You can also book tickets for films on the day.
Eating and Drinking
You can enjoy a pre-show drink in the theatre bar, or for something a bit more substantial, Coco at The Roxy is Miramar’s leading dining destination serving award-winning dishes and cocktails. For reservations, phone 04 388 5555 or email coco@roxycinema.co.nz.
There is unrestricted car parking space on nearby Tahi Street, and further north on Park Road. There are 30-minute parking spaces directly outside the building. Buses 2, 30x and 31x all depart from Courtney Place (CBD) and go directly to The Roxy. The trip takes roughly 25 minutes but allow time for traffic and delays. For more information & bus timetables head to metlink.org.nz.
Screenings
Screenings at The Roxy are in Cinema One upstairs, and Cinema Two on the ground level. Screenings will start as scheduled. Latecomers will not be permitted entry once a screening has commenced. Please turn off all electronic devices prior to the start. Any recordings and photography are strictly prohibited.
Theatre Accessibility
To book wheelchair seats for shows, contact Roxy Cinema 04 38 5555
Please note this is not a general sales line. Be sure to specifically request wheelchair seats. Companion seats are available for those booking wheelchair spaces. A hearing loop is available; please notify staff on arrival. A photo ID is required for the use of hearing aid equipment. There are two mobility car parks at the front of the building.
5 Park Road, Miramar, Wellington 6022
The Embassy
The historic Embassy Theatre is Wellington’s finest picture palace, housing three screens equipped with the latest (including 3D) technology and state of the art sound. Originally built in 1924, it was fully refurbished in 2003, to host the World Premiere of the final film in Sir Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Booking and Ticket information
Tickets can be booked via Ticketmaster –www.ticketmaster.co.nz
Virtual Cinema
113 features and short films will be available online nationwide for New Zealand viewing between 1 June and 10 July.
Much like popular online video streaming platforms such as Apple TV or Google Play, you book tickets by “renting” the film.
1. Go to
Doc Edge Virtual Cinema www.vc.docedge.nz.
2. Create an account if you are new or Sign In if you are returning.
3. Once you have logged in, you can browse, select and add individual films or a selection to My Wishlist.
4. After you pay with your credit card, your chosen film(s) will be added to My Library for you to watch when they become available. Once you hit play, You have 48 hours to view the film.
Parking and Transport
Street parking is available. Please note time restrictions apply. Be sure to check street signs. Wheelchair access can be organised when purchasing tickets via Ticketmaster. For public transport, The Courtenay Place transport hub is located just across the road, with frequent buses and taxis readily available.
www.embassytheatre.co.nz
10 Kent Terrace, Mount Victoria, Wellington 6011
Note:
* Short Films are sold in bundles. You can purchase a Binge Pass and watch all 39 shorts whenever you like, however many times you like and with who you like.
* Feature Films are available individually and in bundles. To watch all 73 features, purchase the Binge Viewing Pass.
* There are also Category Viewing Passes that have been collated by theme to help make your choice easier.
Book tickets for films at any time.
Note that some feature films will have an in-theatre premiere first before going online. “Available On” dates will be clearly displayed on each film on our Virtual Cinema site.
Please note: Whetu Marama – Bright Star is NOT available to view in the virtual festival.
Visit docedge.nz to find out more.
Venues
Silky Otter Cinemas
Orakei, Auckland Wigram, Christchurch
A modern and luxurious cinema experience with world-class theatres equipped with luxury leather recliners, access to delicious food and drink, laser projection and full 7.1 surround sound.
Take your seat, put your feet up, and enjoy Cinema made for you ’. Christchurch is the second location to have opened in 2021 after Auckland, which opened in 2019.
Booking and Ticket information
Tickets can be purchased via the Silky Otter Cinemas app , and online at https://www.silkyotter.co.nz./
Eating and Drinking
With a full-service kitchen, special hand-crafted menu and the freshest of ingredients, you're in for a mouth-watering treat. Whether it's freshly cooked hot food items, indulgent desserts, classic movie favourites, or a drink from Silky Otter’s selection of premium beers and wines, there's something for everyone. With great food comes great service. Sit back and relax as staff deliver food straight to your seat.
228 Orakei Road, Orakei, Auckland 1071
Theatre Accessibility
Auckland
Space for wheelchairs is at the front of the cinema. To book seats for shows, please contact Silky Otter Cinemas in Orakei on 09 523 0400
Christchurch
Wigram has been built with access for wheelchair users in mind, with space for wheelchairs is at the back of the cinema.
To book seats for shows, please contact Silky Otter Cinemas in Wigram at 03 740 2155.
Parking and Transport
Auckland
Free parking is available upstairs outside Orakei Bay Village, or downstairs outside Kings Plant Barn. Orakei Train Station is directly adjacent to the Village, and only one stop from Britomart.
Christchurch
The best drop-off point is on Runway Road, and it is a 30-metre walk to the entrance. Free parking is available around the Landing. Bus stop is on Corsair Drive and is an 80-metre walk.
90 The Runway, Wigram, Christchurch 8042
P R O U D T O S U P P O R T D O C E D G E F E S T I V A L
Wellington was named a Creative City of Film by UNESCO in November 2019 S
n c o m
Silky Otter
Silky Otter
And Still I Sing Directed by Fazila Amiri page 42
Why was Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange banned in Spain? Was it just the ultraviolence or did fascism have a role to play?
Acclaimed director
The result is an explosive tale of religion, morality, and fascist dictatorships.
A Forbidden Orange (La naranja prohibida) looks back at a film that, nearly 50 years later, still raises questions about the nature of freedom and film’s ability to change the world.
Dean Martin: King of Cool
An in-depth and affectionate biography of the fabulously famous and intensely private star.
Dean Martin was the ultimate cool cat. Undeniably brilliant, he dominated the landscape of popular culture for decades. He was a master of improv, a giant of comedic timing, a movie star, consummately elegant and one of the smoothest crooners of the 20th century.
The film features a star-studded cast including personal anecdotes from Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, Norman Lear and his daughter, Deana Martin.
A bold investigative portrait of the underrated genius and his lasting cultural relevance as the one-of-a-kind King of Cool.
Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen
Betty White: First Lady of Television
A portrait of one of the most beloved women in America, truly the “First Lady of Television."
With exclusive access to Betty White and her team over ten years, this film captures a personal side to her life.
Friends and co-stars all pay tribute including Ryan Reynolds, Tina Fey, Carl Reiner, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Bertinelli.
The film looks at her full and legendary career, as a pioneer, entertainer, and Hollywood’s life-long sweetheart. Beloved for her roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Golden Girls, to hosting the highest rated SNL episode ever, Betty is an icon across generations.
You’ve seen it on stage, you’ve seen it on screen, now see it again with a whole new perspective: behind the scenes of "the most powerful movie musical ever made".
The fall of 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of the much beloved film Fiddler on the Roof. Now get a detailed view behind the scenes of the film Pauline Kael (The New Yorker) called "the most powerful movie musical ever made.”
Displaying a richly comprehensive examination of the passion, dedication, and love that brought this film together. Director, Daniel Raim, captures the humour and drama of Jewison's quest to recreate the lost world of Jewish life in Tsarist Russia.
Narrated by the charming voice of Jeff Goldblum, this film shows us how one of the most revered musicals ever made made its triumphant, hazardous voyage to the big screen. Interestingly, Jewison is not of Jewish faith.
The Other Fellow
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Bond, James Bonds. Can anyone ever live up to that name?
An energetic exploration of male identity via the lives, personalities, and adventures of a diverse band of men, real men across the globe all sharing the same name - James Bond
World Premiere and opening night film, The Civic, Auckland, Wed 22 June.
7 – 8 pm Red Carpet arrival, official welcome and introductions.
8 – 9 pm The Other Fellow screening followed by live Q&A session with director, Matthew Bauer.
Note: Every person who purchases a ticket to The Other Fellow is invited to attend the official Awards Ceremony between 6 and 7 pm.
Director: Matthew Bauer
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2022
Duration: 80 min
AKL: The Civic, Wed 22 June, 8pm
WLG: The Roxy, Wed 6 July, 8pm ONLINE: 23 June 10 July WORLD
Language: English / Swedish
The Storms of Jeremy Thomas
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Take a trip through the mind of Jeremy Thomas, one of film’s most prolific producers.
For decades, legendary film producer Jeremy Thomas has driven from England to the Cannes Film Festival. This time, he’s joined by acclaimed filmmaker and cinematographer Mark Cousins.
On their intimate, visual five-day road movie through rural France, they remember some of the most acclaimed and controversial films ever made: The Last Emperor, which won nine Oscars for Thomas when he was still in his 30s, including Best Picture; David Cronenberg’s Crash and its Cannes scandal; the masterpiece of sexual obsession, Bad Timing.
The pilgrimage is intercut with acclaimed actors Tilda Swinton and Debra Winger, who give exclusive insights into the man and his work.
Director: Mark Cousin
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2021
Duration: 93 min
Language: English
AKL: Silky Otter, Wed 15 June, 8pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Wed 15 June, 8pm
WLG: The Roxy, Sat 9 July, 4pm
ONLINE: 16 June - 10 July
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Against the backdrop of New Delhi's escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protecting the kite birds.
In one of the world's most populated cities, cows, rats, monkeys, frogs and hogs jostle cheek-by-jowl with people. Here, two brothers fall in love with a bird. From their makeshift bird hospital in their tiny basement, the "kite brothers" care for thousands of these mesmeric creatures that drop daily from New Delhi's smog-choked skies. As environmental toxicity and civil unrest escalate, the relationship between this muslim family and the neglected kite forms a poetic chronicle of the city's collapsing ecology and rising social tensions.
Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. A special screening at the Cannes Film Festival 2022 of an emerging director lauded as a new master of documentary.
Civic, Sat 25 June, 10am
The Roxy, Sun 3 July, 10am
26 June - 10 July
Angels of Sinjar
One brave woman's quest to keep a promise to her dying father and free her sisters, held captive by ISIS.
Hanifa, a young Yezidi woman, miraculously survives an ISIS attack. She escapes abduction but her five younger sisters are all trucked off and enslaved. Based on exclusive access to one of the most dangerous and underreported places on earth, Oscar and Emmy-nominated director Polak tracks Hanifa’s mission to find her sisters and bring them home. Winner of the Gilda Vieira de Mello Prize and International Jury Prize at FIFDH 2022, One World Prague 2022, Hot Docs 2022
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Hanna Polak Country: Poland / Germany Year: 2022
Duration: 109 min
Language: Kurdish / English
Delikado
Three environmental crusaders confront betrayal and murder as they battle to save an island paradise famed as the Philippines ‘last ecological frontier’.
Palawan, Philippines is an idyllic tropical island paradise and one of Asia’s most visited tourist destinations. However, behind the picturesque powder-white beaches and lush forests is a small network of environmental vigilantes trying to protect its spectacular natural resources from destruction.
Delikado follows three ecological defenders: a charismatic lawyer, an ex-illegal logger seeking redemption, and a local Mayor.
People lose lives protecting the environment, but they won’t stop until they get justice. This is a test they have never before faced in the battle to save this island paradise and their homes.
AKL: Silky Otter, Sat 18 June, 8pm WLG: The Embassy, Sat 2 July, 2.30pm CHCH: Silky Otter, Sat 18 June, 8pm
19 June - 10 July
Finite: The Climate of Change
To save our planet, they will risk their lives.
Activists take to the trees to save a 12,000-year-old
and fossil fuel corporations.
Into the Ice
The secrets of the Greenland ice sheet. What can it tell us about climate change and where we go from here?
Director Ostenfeld accompanies three of the world’s leading glaciologists on pioneering scientific expeditions to and into the Greenland ice sheet.
Cool and hardworking Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, sensitive and politically engaged Jason Box, and daring and fearless Alun Hubbard are all working to collect new crucial data that can help answer some key questions of our time: How fast is the ice melting? How quickly are sea levels rising? How much time do we have left to change the course of the Earth?
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Lars Ostenfeld
Country: Denmark
Year: 2022
Duration: 86 min
Language: Danish / English
Myanmar Diaries
Off the Rails
AKL: Silky Otter, Fri 17 June, 8pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Fri 17 June, 8pm WLG: The Roxy, Sat 2 July, 12.30pm ONLINE: 18 June - 10 July
The dark secrets of Myanmar as told by anonymous young filmmakers trying to find hope in a seemingly hopeless situation.
Hidden from the world's TV cameras, life under Myanmar’s junta of terror in the aftermath of last year's military coup has been largely invisible. As an act of creative resistance, the anonymous Myanmar Film Collective composed this featurelength film by blurring reality and fiction, all segments from their first-person perspective, woven together with bloodchilling eye-witness footage in the form of citizen journalism.
An extremely urgent film in a time when Myanmar has almost disappeared from the news headlines around the world.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: The Myanmar Film Collective (MFC)
Country: Netherlands
Year: 2022
Duration: 70 min
Language: Burmese
Will two daredevil teenagers be able to numb their pain by performing the dangerous stunts of parkour?
Rikke Brewer and best friend Aiden Knox are ‘failing’ working-class teenagers. They spend their time honing their spectacular UrbEx stunts and gravity-defying parkour skills, hoping that millions of 'likes' will be their ticket out of boring Guildford, England. But the trauma of a close friend's death triggers darker stories, of broken families and fragile mental health, threatening to send them further away from each other and off the rails.
A Doc Edge Pitch2021 project, director Day's film Off The Rails was nominated for the Golden Alexander Award at this year's Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Peter Day
Country: UK / New Zealand
Year: 2022
Duration: 96 min
Language: English
Tigre Gente
AKL: The Capitol, Mon 19 June, 5.15pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Fri 24 June, 7pm
WLG: The Roxy, Sun 10 July, 12.15pm ONLINE: 20 June - 10 July
AKL: The Civic, Fri 24 June, 7pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sun 26 June, 5.30pm
WLG: The Embassy, Sat 2 July, 6pm ONLINE: 25 June - 10 July
A Bolivian park ranger and a Hong Konger journalist risk their lives to go undercover and investigate a new, deadly jaguar trade sweeping South America.
As China pours hundreds of billions of dollars into South American infrastructure, jaguars are disappearing from the continent’s protected rainforests. Targeted as substitutes for tiger parts, jaguars are being trafficked at dangerously high numbers.
Spanning over mist-covered jungles in the Amazon to bustling wildlife markets in China, Tigre Gente follows the story of a Bolivian park ranger and a Hong Konger journalist fighting to stop the jaguar trade before it’s too late. Along the way, they grapple with questions of empathy, responsibility, and bridging a cultural gap to prevent the jaguar trade from spiralling out of control.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Elizabeth Unger Country: USA
Year: 2022
Duration: 93 min
Language: Chinese / English /
Eternal Spring
How hard would you fight for your freedom?
In March 2002, a state TV station in China was hijacked by members of outlawed spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal was to counter the government narrative about their practice
In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong Justice League and Star Wars, a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee.
Combining present-day footage with 3D animation inspired by Daxiong’s art, the film retraces the event on its 20th anniversary. The film brings to life an unprecedented story of defiance, harrowing eyewitness accounts of persecution, and an exhilarating tale of determination to speak up for political and religious freedoms, no matter the cost.
Winner of Hot Docs 2022 Audience Award and Canadian Audience Award.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Jason Loftus
Country: Canada
Year: 2022
Duration: 86 min
PACIFIC
June - 10 July
Language: English / Mandarin
Singing in the Wilderness
Would you sacrifice faith and tradition for applause?
After hiding in the mountains for a century, a Miao ethnic Christian choir is discovered by a propaganda official and becomes a national and international sensation.
Over time they are forced to perform songs in venues that align less and less with their faith. The film follows the story of two young Miaos in the choir and all the villagers as they reconcile their faith, identity and love with the real world of China.
Singing in the Wilderness speaks to everyone whose community was once culturally, spiritually or physically colonised.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Dongnan Chen
Country: China
Year: 2021
Duration: 98 min
PREMIERE
ONLINE: June - 10 July
Language: Mandarin / A-Hmao
Speer Goes to Hollywood
The implausible second career of the ‘good Nazi’.
Albert Speer is an enigma. The highest-ranking Nazi in Nuremberg to be spared the death sentence, Speer was one of Hitler’s closest confidants and his chief architect. He was responsible for 12 million slave labourers. And yet, even now, he has the reputation of being the ‘good Nazi’.
The film meets Speer in 1971 when he was working on a screenplay for Paramount Pictures, based on his memoir “Inside the Third Reich”. Based on forty hours of previously unheard audio cassettes, recorded by screenwriter Andrew Birkin, it features Speer’s callous attempt to whitewash his past with a feature film.
The spellbinding story of the Nazi, Paramount Pictures and the biopic that Kubrick refused to direct.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Vanessa Lapa
Tantura
For every story there are two sides but evidence will reveal the truth.
When the State of Israel was established in 1948, war broke out and hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated in its aftermath. Israelis know this as the War of Independence while Palestinians call it “Al Nakba” (the Catastrophe). This is a story about one such village: Tantura.
In the late 1990s, graduate student Teddy Katz conducted research into the large-scale massacre that had allegedly occurred here. His work later came under attack and his reputation was ruined, but 140 hours of audio testimonies remain.
The film examines why the Nakba is taboo in Israeli society and explores the country’s inability to come to terms with its dark past.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Alon Schwarz
Country: Israel
Year: 2022
Duration: 95 min
ASIA PACIFIC PREMIERE
Language: English / Arabic / Hebrew
The Bowraville Murders
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Trace the epic David and Goliath battle between the families of three Aboriginal children murdered 30 years ago and the criminal justice system that has failed them.
The Bowraville Murders investigates one of Australia’s worst unsolved serial murder cases. In 1990-91, three Aboriginal children disappeared from the same street within five months in a small rural town in northern NSW. Months later their remains were found off the same dirt track leading out of town.
It’s a gut-wrenching pursuit that takes them from a rural Aboriginal Mission all the way to the High Court and exposes a wider story of systemic racism in the criminal justice system and Australia to this day.
Director: Allan Clarke
Country: Australia
The UnRedacted
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Twenty years after the Guantanamo Bay detention camp was established by the U.S. military in the wake of 9/11, its legacy continues to cast a long shadow.
This film focuses on several men - detained in Guantanamo for years without charge by the United States - after they are placed in what’s billed as the world’s first rehabilitation center for extremists.
There, they undergo the center’s “deradicalization” program, which includes therapy sessions and life skills classes, before they are permitted to be released into an unfamiliar society where they will face new challenges. With empathy and extraordinary access, this film is a powerful document of how individuals and societies face the far-reaching consequences of conflict.
Director: Meg Smaker
Country: USA
Year: 2022
Duration: 108 min
Language: Arabic / English
Unseen Skies
Who is watching you?
Visionary artist Trevor Paglen attempts to launch a work of art into orbit. If he succeeds, it will be the first time anyone has launched a non-militarised, non-commercial satellite into space.
As we follow his mission the film reveals the global impact of technology in the 21st century. We see how the evolution of corporate and state surveillance ultimately destroys our right to anonymity and privacy.
AKL: The Civic, Sat 25 June, 8.15pm WLG: The Embassy, Sat 2 July, 3.15pm ONLINE: 26 June 10 July
Zealand’s only nationwide
digital billboard network. For sales enquiries contact Charlie@lumodigital.nz www.lumodigital.nz
NZ PREMIERE
After the Rain
How can you move on after you’ve lost your only child?
After an earthquake razed the Chinese city of Sichuan to the ground in 2008, more than 6,000 parents were encouraged to replace the child they lost and move on.
Due to the One-Child Policy, these parents lost the only child they had. Over a decade, director Fan follows two couples who originally connected because they had both lost daughters named “Rain”. The couples become close friends through the shared experience of introducing new children into their shaken families.
Haunted by fear, resentment, and unspeakable grief, the families find hope beyond intergenerational trauma to build towards a brighter tomorrow.
Executive Produced by Doc Edge alumni Jean Tsien (Our Time Machine, Plastic China).
The incredible story of a woman caught in the middle of the Syrian Refugee Crisis and her commitment to hold onto hope.
Shot over an unparalleled 10 years, Syrian-Lebanese director Kevorkian’s intimate camera follows the plight of Maria and her family of Syrian migrant workers who find themselves unable to return back to their hometown of Raqqa, Syria.
Unique among the numerous refugee stories to date, Batata captures an entire decade while documenting not just the age-old conflict between two nations, but the unbending spirit of a woman who puts family ahead of all else.
Behind the Mask
Balance of the Five Elements
What are the Five Elements? Take a trip through modern China to find out.
Studying and applying the Five Elements to daily life has become immensely popular throughout the world. This ancient Chinese philosophy known as Wu Xing accepts that everything in the universe is in a constant state of change.
Passing through deserts, ice and snow, remote rural villages and populous megacities German director, Drevs and New Zealand Field Director & DOP, Mike Single embark on an extensive 200 day expedition throughout China.
In this epic cinematic exploration filmmakers ask how we might achieve balance and harmony amidst the complexities and challenges of modernity?
One Kiwi doctor reveals the inside story of the global pandemic that will make you realise the true cost of working on the frontline.
When Covid-19 hit, Doc Edge alumni director Dr. Trotman Donated to Science, was stood down because he is immunocompromised. Frustrated and looking for ways to contribute, he began documenting the experiences of colleagues around the world.
Between March 2020 and August 2021, Trotman did almost 150 interviews. He was the only person talking to healthcare workers so early in the piece, when events were still new and raw and emotions high.
Because he was a colleague, his subjects were incredibly candid. This remarkable film is the result.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Paul Trotman
Country: New Zealand
Year: 2022
Duration: 89 min
Language: English
AKL: The Capitol, Fri 24 June, 11am
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sun 26 June, 10.30am
WLG: The Roxy, Thu 7 July, 8pm ONLINE: 25 June - 10 July
Dead Sea Guardians
Three nations in endless conflict are willing to risk their lives in order to save the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea is drying up at an alarming rate as a result of conflict and climate change. Dead Sea Guardians follows the story of three men, an Israeli, a Jordanian, and a Palestinian, each from fighting borders as they join forces to heroically swim the dangerously salty sea from Jordan to Israel.
Their mission is to save the Sea, one of the most spectacular places on earth, from disappearing.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Ido Glass, Yoav Kleinman
Country: Israel
Year: 2022
Duration: 78 min
Language: English / Arabic / Hebrew
AKL: The Capitol, Sat 18 June, 2.15pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sat 25 June, 12.45pm
WLG: The Roxy, Sat 2 July, 6.30pm
ONLINE: 20 June - 10 July
Iorram (Boat Song)
Across the Scottish islands of the Outer Hebrides, Gaelic voices from the past tell stories of the sea.
The first-ever theatrical documentary shot in Scottish Gaelic, Iorram (Boat Song) is an immersive portrait of a thousand-year-old fishing community in the Outer Hebrides, as it faces an uncertain future.
New Zealand born award-winning filmmaker Alastair Cole layers breathtaking footage of modern island life. Archive sound recordings of voices, stories and songs from the mid-20th century are woven together with an original folk score by Aidan O'Rourke. The result is a poetic dialogue between past and present, reflecting on a culture and language fighting to survive in the globalised world.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Alastair Cole Country: New Zealand / UK Year: 2021
Duration: 97 min
Language: Scottish Gaelic
My Childhood, My Country 20 Years in Afghanistan
An epic story of boyhood and manhood, in a land ravaged by war.
A moving new film from award-winning filmmakers Grabsky and Sharifi as they follow the life of Mir Hussain for a twenty year period in one of the most embattled corners of the globe.
We first meet Mir in 2002, a boy of eight, in wartorn rural Afghanistan. Mir’s life tells a remarkably personal story of the poverty, destruction, aspiration, and progress that colours Afghan life today. As the film progresses, Mir grows up, gets married, has a family, and a career, all with war and conflict looming in the background.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharafi Country: UK Year: 2021 Duration: 94 min
English
Pushing Boundaries
AKL: The Capitol, Fri 24 June, 5pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sun 26 June, 1pm
WLG: The Roxy, Fri 8 July, 8pm
ONLINE: 25 June - 10 July
1 June - 10 July
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
With the Olympics looming, what happens when Russia takes over Crimea and the Ukrainian Paralympians lose their training base?
As the 2014 Winter Olympics gets underway in Sochi, Russian armed forces prepare to invade and annex the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.When the region is forcibly taken, Ukrainian Paralympic athletes are cut off from their state-of-the-art training facility.
The film follows 5 athletes with disabilities who juggle personal circumstances and an extreme political environment to attempt to make the Paralympics qualification.
Pushing Boundaries is more than a sports film. It boldly shows the state of a country where people are forced to reorient themselves day by day.
Director: Lesia Kordonets Country: Switzerland
Year: 2021
Duration: 102 min
Language: Ukrainian
PACIFIC PREMIERE
NZ PREMIERE
ASIA PACIFIC PREMIERE
Savage Waters
How far would you go searching for something that may not exist?
A 19th century treasure-hunter’s journal inspires a modern day adventure. Not a hunt for gold, but to seek out and surf a mythical, never-ridden wave in some of the most remote and dangerous waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Skipper Matt Knight and big wave surfer Andrew Cotton follow clues to try and find the ‘perfect wave’. But not everything goes to plan, with serious injury and lifethreatening challenges testing the crew's resilience.
Narrated by the legendary Charles Dance the film, boasts jaw-dropping cinematography, and follows remarkable protagonists, for whom living life to the full often means putting themselves in harm’s way.
The Balcony Movie
A film for anyone who has wondered about the life of a stranger they’ve passed on the street.
In his film experiment, director Łoziński watches people from his balcony and barrages them with questions about how they cope with life. His genuine interest is rewarded with the most intimate stories. Every story is unique, and life always surpasses imagination.
The director spent 165 shooting days on his balcony and talked to 2,000 people over two and a half years. Using his colourful cast to narrate life, Lozinski has created a film that is shimmeringly kaleidoscopic and harmonious, startling and engaging, by turns cheerful and contemplative.
The Balcony Movie is an affirmation of life, a mirror for everyone to see themselves in.
1 June - 10 July
Country: Poland
Year: 2021
Duration: 100 min Language: Polish
Stand Up, My Beauty
In modern-day Ethiopia, women unite through storytelling, music and motherhood.
Nardos, an Azmari singer from Addis Ababa, yearns to tell stories about the lives of ordinary people through her music. Her dream is to write her own song that denounces the blatant discrimination of women in the East African country.
In search of stories for her songs, she meets Gennet, a poet who lives on the streets with her children. As Nardos puts the lives of Ethiopian women, their visions and power at the centre of her creation, we dive deeper and deeper into a rapidly changing country.
The Strait Guys
Can four men with a dream convince Russia and America to join forces to connect the world?
A grumpy, Czech-born mining engineer and his fasttalking protege join forces with Russian visionaries. They dare to try the impossible - to link USA and Russia with a 100-kilometre railroad tunnel beneath the Bering Strait.
The "Strait Guys" try to convince international governments, corporations, and indigenous tribes to green-light their $100 billion project. They promise it will be the Panama Canal of the 21st century.
As they struggle to keep their "peace, progress, and prosperity" project alive in the face of many obstacles, the film leaves us wondering: What is really preventing the US and Russia from being connected?
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Rick Minnich
Country: Germany / Canada / Finland
Year: 2022
Duration: 99 min
Language: English / Russian
AKL: The Capitol, Sun 19 June, 7.15pm CHCH: Silky Otter, Thu 23 June, 8.15pm WLG: The Embassy, Sat 2 July, 10.15am ONLINE: 20 June - 10 July
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Paweł Łoziń ski
A Marble Travelogue
The
If your dream is to take your ideas off the paper and onto the screen, here’s your chance. The University of Auckland’s postgraduate Screen Production programme is taught by award-winning film practitioners. We are the only university in New Zealand that is a member of CILECT (an association of the world’s best film schools) and the only screen production programme in New Zealand to be endorsed by ARRI, the global supplier of motion picture lm equipment.
Girl Gang
Fame, free sneakers a million followers. A teen influencer's dream or a living nightmare?
Girl Gang closely follows the life of Leonie, a 14-year-old rising teen influencer who lives on the outskirts of Berlin.
She's got a million followers and counting, and hordes of adoring fans. But the pressure to produce content is massive and she begins to struggle.
Seeing economical potential in her internet stardom her parents step into the role of full-time managers. They want her to have a better life than they had.
Her life becomes dictated by brands and pressure. At such a young age, will she cope?
A fascinating insight into influencer culture.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Susanne Regina Meures Country: Switzerland
Year: 2022
Duration: 98 min
Language: German
Going Circular
Imagine a future where humankind not only survives, but flourishes.
Meet four groundbreaking thinkers who have hope for the future. Our planet holds the secret. The circular economy. Circularity is an economic system based on the idea that nothing should go to waste.
A simple idea that is at the heart of nature, but it is far from the way most of us live. Living this way can save our planet and save us from climate change.
From the clothes we buy to how our houses are built, the amount of waste we produce and the quantity of water we consume, Circularity allows the consumer to take the power back. You have the choice to live this way.
Duration: 90 min
Language: English
The Embassy, Sat 2 July, 12.30pm
17 June 10 July
www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/screen
Still Working 9 to 5
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
supported
Still Working 9 to 5 explores why workplace inequality is still no laughing matter.
When the highest grossing comedy, 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman and Lily Tomlin, exploded on screens in 1980, the laughs hid a serious message about inequality in the workplace.
As 9 to 5 continues to resonate as a touchstone of classic feminist inspiration, Still Working 9 to 5 brings to life, with colorful and comedic observations, why the film is as relevant today as the year it lit up the box office four decades ago.
The film offers up a new recorded version of the hit song 9 to 5 featuring Dolly Parton and Kelly Clarkson.
Director: Camille Hardman, Gary Lane
Country: USA / Australia
Year: 2022
Duration: 91 min
Language: English
The Happy Worker
Viral Dreams
AKL: The Civic, Sat 25 June, 4pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sun 26 June, 3pm WLG: The Roxy, Fri 8 July, 6pm ONLINE: 26 June - 10 July
Are you over post-it notes with empty marketing phrases? Sick of endless meetings about nothing? Do you crave to break free from the stress and corporate carry-on?
Are you happy at work? Across the globe, only 20% of workers are motivated enough to put in a decent day’s work. Something is profoundly wrong in the office. How can we change it for the better?
This film explores how empty corporate jargon, management fashions and self-serving bureaucracy masquerading as efficiency hijacked the purpose of work.
Laced with humour and irony, the film explains the very real consequences the toxic workplace has for the health and happiness of the people who work there.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: John Webster
Country: Finland
Year: 2022
Duration: 82 min
Language: English / Korean
AKL: The Civic, Thu 23 June, 6pm WLG: The Embassy, Fri July, 6.15pm ONLINE: 24 June - 10 July
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Gen Z Youtubers melt down and bounce back in the wake of the global pandemic.
Seven young people from across the world shared their exciting plans for 2020 when "virus" started trending online.
From the pandemic, through to the BLM movement and on to the US elections - Viral Dreams features over a year's worth of real-time video posts and depicts the surprising resilience of a new generation to a global change no one saw coming.
Director: Sagi Bornstein, Udi Nir
Country: Germany / Israel
Year: 2021
Duration: 86 min
Language: English / French / Spanish Malayalam WLG: The Roxy, Sat 2 July, 8pm
June 10 July
Woodgirls - A Duet for a Dream
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Women are building it for themselves.
Follow the unique story of Leila Avakh and Sedigheh Momennia, as they follow their dream of opening a carpentry workshop run by women for women.
With much love and passion, Leila and Sedigheh have chosen a profession that is considered extremely masculine in the traditional societies of the Middle East. They are some of Iran’s first female carpenters. Despite the obstacles and difficulties they face, they are determined to prove to themselves. They refuse to let go of their dreams.
Armed with self-taught skills, guts, and a deep determination, Leila and Sedigheh bravely face cultural traditions to fight for what they believe in.
Director: Azadeh Bizargiti
Country: Iran
Year: 2021
Duration: 76 min
Language: Persian ONLINE: 1 June - 10 July
AUSTRALASIA PREMIERE
ASIA PACIFIC PREMIERE
The Movie
Follow one of Norway’s biggest bands in this story of great music, big ambitions, broken friendship – and maybe forgiveness.
When Take On Me reached number 1 on the Billboard charts in the US in 1985 the dream came true. Or did it?
a-ha - The Movie follows Norway's biggest pop band over a period of four years, telling the full story of how three young men followed their impossible dream of becoming Norwegian pop stars. We get close to three strong personalities. How do they see their legacy and future today?
I Get Knocked Down
In 1997 a bunch of anarchist punks gatecrashed the charts and woke up the world. Did any of it matter or was it all just bollocks?
Twenty years after his fall from grace, the former frontman of the band Chumbawamba is angry and frustrated. But how does a middle-aged, retired radical, who now feels invisible get back up again?
Part music film, part unflinching character study, part a punk version of A Christmas Carol - I Get Knocked Down is the funny, surreal and deeply human story of the most audacious anarchist music experiment of all time and a call to arms to those who think activism is best undertaken by someone else.
88 min
English
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande
They're the greatest band you've never heard of... It's time now to hear how they defined a generation and inspired the music we danced to.
The British group Cymande are unsung heroes whose message of peace, love and funk sailed beyond Britain's shores and helped shape music for five decades. Long after they stopped playing, the music played on, so they returned to play some more.
Now their story is told on screen for the first time, with tributes from a galaxy of musicians and producers influenced and enthralled by their music, including Mark Ronson, Kool DJ Red Alert, DJ Maseo, Jim James and Louie Vega.
Listening to Kenny G
Some hate him, some make babies to his music. The incomparable Kenny G.
Why do some people hate Kenny G’s music, and why so many more love it.
A light-hearted exploration of this conflict raises big questions about taste, genre, and marketing. Along the way we hear from music critics, record executives, radio personalities, market researchers, fans – and of course, the G man himself.
Nothing Compares
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Principled, talented and enduring: The legacy of Sinéad O’Connor.
This is the story of Sinéad O'Connor's phenomenal rise to worldwide fame and her exile from the pop world as her irreverent personality clashes with the mainstream.
Focusing on her prophetic words and deeds from 1987 to 1993, the film reflects on the legacy of this fearless trailblazer through a contemporary feminist lens.
“Everybody felt it was OK to kick the shit out of me,”O'Connor.
Featuring a new interview with Sinéad herself and intimate insights from artists, musicians, and social commentators adding layers of Irish history, politics, and global activism.
Director: Kathryn Ferguson
Country: Ireland / UK
Year: 2022
Duration: 97 min
Language: English
OKAY! (The ASD Band Film)
AKL: The Civic, Thu 23 June, 8.15pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sun 26 June, 8pm
WLG: The Roxy, Sat 9 July, 6pm
ONLINE: 24 June 10 July
An uplifting story of friendship, passion, and the power of music.
Through a shared love of music, four talented autistic musicians – Rawan, Jackson, Spenser and Ron – shatter the stigma of autism. Coming together to form a band, The ASD Band, they express themselves through song.
The film follows the band as they set out to write and record their first album and perform their first public show. Along the way we delve into the deep corridors of their lives, as they learn to navigate a world foreign to them by finding strength in others who share the same challenges.
Life on the spectrum has many individual challenges, but together, anything is possible.
Runner-up of Hot Docs 2022 Audience Award
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Mark Bone Country: Canada
Year: 2022
Duration: 86 min
Language: English
Meet the man who broke the rules and records.
In every profession there is someone who changes the rules of the game. In music, that person is Bruce Swedien.
In the early eighties in Los Angeles, Bruce embarked on a project with Michael Jackson that revolutionised the music industry forever. For the first time, those involved in that project tell the unknown story behind his work and how his talent ended up being an essential piece in the history of popular culture.
In this, the 40th anniversary of the release of one of the most important recordings in music history it is the perfect time to introduce you to the man behind the best music you've ever heard.
Doc Edge Originals
ū MāramaBright Star
The renaissance of the waka and our deep connection to the greatest wayfarers on earth.
30 years ago there were no waka hourua, no ocean going waka/canoes and no surviving knowledge of celestial navigation in Aotearoa.
We have come a long way since then. Double hulled canoes have been built. Celestial Navigation has been relearned. The Pacific Triangle has been sailed.
Sir Hekenukumai Puhipi Busby has helmed this renaissance which has flourished to embrace thousands of New Zealanders. He and his crews have proved beyond doubt that those ancient Pacific Voyagers were not blown here by accident. They were able seamen who knew where they were going and how to get here.
The
English
ASIA PACIFIC PREMIERE
ASIA PACIFIC PREMIERE
Doc Edge Festival 2022
Christchurch 16 - 27 JUNE
Doc Edge Festival 2022 Wellington 30
Doc Edge Festival 2022
Auckland
16 - 27 JUNE
Girl Gang
Hide & Seek (Nascondino)
A crackdown on organised crime threatens the future of a young Italian teen and tears his family apart. What lies must they tell to survive?
Nascondino (Hide & Seek) follows four years in the life of “scugnizzo” street kid, Entoni. He spends his days roaming freely around his neighbourhood and hanging with older kids from local gangs. A state crackdown on children at risk of entering organised crime sees Entoni fighting for his freedom.
As his grandmother Dora watches on, she is confronted by her own past horrors and retreats further into her faith, memory, and superstition. Will Dora’s faith be enough to save Entoni, or will the constraints of his upbringing doom him to repeat the cycles of crime he has been born into?
Silky Otter, Sun 19 June, 4.15pm
The Embassy, Sat 2 July, 6.45pm
20 June - 10 July
How Saba Kept Singing
Proving love can grow in even the grimmest of places.
94-year-old David "Saba" Wisnia believes he survived the horrors of Auschwitz by using his beautiful singing voice to entertain his Nazi captors. When his grandson, Avi, starts asking questions, they realise there’s more to the story. Someone may have secretly altered the course of Saba's life.
The pair embark on an expedition that leads them into the mystery of David’s past in what is a breath-taking and moving testament to the power of music, art, and love.
Executive Produced by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Sara Taksler Country: USA
PREMIERE
Year: 2022
Duration: 80 min
Language: English / Hebrew Polish
Live Till I Die
Living life to the fullest at 99-years-old.
In an elderly home on the outskirts of Stockholm, many of the residents will soon turn 100-years-old.
Some of them didn’t know each other’s names until an activity coach was hired to break this solitude. With an extroverted personality and a bunch of daring ideas, Monica reawakens their youthful spirits.
She develops a special relationship with Ella who doesn’t have any close family. When Ella’s health worsens, Monica organises a big celebration for her 100th birthday.
The film explores what it means to live life to the fullest, while embracing the ups and downs of ageing and care in late life.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Åsa Ekman, Oscar Hedin Hetteberg, Anders Teigen, Gustav Ågerstrand
Country: Sweden
Year: 2022
Duration: 73 min
Language: Swedish
1 June - 10 July
AKL: Silky Otter, Sun 19 June, 10.15am
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sun 19 June, 10.15am
WLG: The Roxy, Wed 6 July, 6pm ONLINE: 20 June 10 July
After fifty long years in showbiz, Britain’s oldest drag artiste is still shaking her sequins, even while battling Alzheimer’s.
An intimate portrait of ageing, friendship and Alzheimer's as David Raven, best known by his drag name Maisie Trollette, prepares for the performance of a lifetime.
David’s 85th is fast approaching and a special and spectacular birthday performance has been arranged for him in the UK’s capital of camp, Brighton. As his birthday grows nearer, he must deal with the unique challenges that performing in your eighties can bring.
A hilarious, heart-warming, and often heart-breaking peek into the world of a character more colourful than his gowns.
of Best Documentary at the 2022 Dublin International Film Festival.
Winner
Outside
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Director: Olha Zhurba
Imagine being released from an orphanage into the adult world with only a knife and a lighter in your pocket.
13-year-old Roma transforms from a poster boy of the Ukrainian Revolution to a young man. On his 18th birthday he is released into the world with no money and little chance of escaping a life of crime.
Independent life is a challenge for Roma, and the camera witnesses his insignificant efforts to cope with normal existence.
Filmed over seven years, Director Olha Zhurba explores what happens to children who grow up in horrible life circumstances. Children we only notice when they harm us. Children we put behind bars. But what if we noticed them earlier?
Country: Ukraine / Netherlands / Denmark
Year: 2022
Duration: 79 min
Language: Ukrainian / Russian / Romani
Summer Nights
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
The Bubble
Ask yourself what is the real price of a perfect retirement?
Welcome to America’s largest retirement community; a 32-square mile, sun-drenched, beautifully maintained, gated paradise housing 150,000+ retirees.
The Bubble intimately examines the exclusive experiences, beliefs and mindsets of six memorable Village residents. Interweaving these satisfied retiree existences with the anxieties of surrounding county residents, the film reveals how those beyond the sealed gates are being profoundly displaced by The Villages’ endless desire for land, water, and regional control.
An engaging, provocative yet compassionate contemplation of American ways of life, ageing, and death.
AKL: Silky Otter, Sat 18 June, 2.15pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sat 18 June, 2.15pm
WLG: The Roxy, Sun 3 July, 2.30pm
ONLINE: 19 June - 10 July
How does the world look through the eyes of a six-year-old child?
A window into a child’s world: his fears, his desires, his way of thinking. An exploration of the subconscious of an innocent and ingenuous child, as he falls asleep and drifts into the depths of his own mind.
Director Milstein captures his son Alva as darkness takes hold and his imagination sparks. The father and son, whispering to one another so as to not wake Alva’s sister, talk about life, death, and everything in between.
Summer Nights is ultimately a film about the bond between fathers and sons.
Director: Ohad Milstein
Country: Israel / Switzerland
Year: 2021
Duration: 53 min
Language: French / Hebrew
AKL: Silky Otter, Sat 18
Country: Switzerland / Austria
Year: 2021 Duration: 91 min Language: English
The Island In Me
Three women travel to the remote atoll of Pukapuka in the Cook Islands. Can they reconnect with their identity?
The Island In Me is an award-winning feature taking the viewer to a unique place never before captured in film. With only four hundred inhabitants and ten metres above sea level, the atoll has stories to tell.
The film follows two women - Amelia Hokulea Borofsky and Johnny Frisbie - who grew up here and return home after decades away to find the atoll, and themselves, forever changed. They return to reconnect - with emotion, celebration, and a sense of belonging. Director Cubero del Barrio also weaves in her own intimate story.
Winner Special Jury Prize at the 19th Festival International du Film Documentaire Océanien FIFO Tahiti.
Country: USA Year: 2021
Duration: 100 min
Language: English
AKL: The Capitol, Fri 17 June, 8pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Fri 24 June, 4pm
WLG: The Embassy, Sat 2 July, 12.45pm
ONLINE: 18 June - 10 July
ASIA PACIFIC PREMIERE
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Valerie Blankenbyl
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Gemma Cubero Del Barrio
AdviceLine is my go-to when I have employment relations questions. As a small business it’s important to get accurate up-to-date information about specific issues with staff. The staff are always friendly and knowledgeable. It’s like having my own HR department.
Margot Tindall - Trailer World Limited
Young Plato
A visionary headmaster empowers children with philosophy to see beyond their boundaries and limitations.
A Primary School in Belfast’s Ardoyne housing estates invokes the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosophers to fight poverty, drug dealers and the IRA. The school hopes to restore hope in the battered community, where violence keeps interrupting their daily life.
We see how philosophy can encourage children to question the mythologies of war and of violence, and sometimes challenge the narratives of their parents, peers and socio-economic groups.
Originals
A transgender teen on the spectrum learns to be himself and finds the support he needs with the help of his original animated characters, The Fallens.
And Still I Sing
Despite death threats, three female Afghan singers fight for women's rights through music.
Afghanistan's controversial pop star and activist Aryana Sayeed mentors hopeful contestants on the hit singing TV series Afghan Star.
For 13 straight seasons, the show has featured only male winners. In 2019, this was about to change.
Female singers Zahra Elham and Sadiqa Madadgar are on the verge of success as their dreams of becoming national singers begin to turn into reality.
Their lives are turned upside down when the Taliban return to power, reversing twenty years of progress for women's rights. Each woman must make a harrowing escape from Kabul into exile while the US fully evacuates.
Hidden Letters
Resisting the patriarchy one secret language at a time.
Four hundred years ago Chinese women had to obey fathers, husbands, and sons. But women in a few secluded villages of central China had a secret. The language they created, called Nushu.
This very ancient hidden language embodies a powerful bond of sisterhood that has challenged patriarchy for centuries.
On the brink of extinction, Nushu’s modern debut is under threat of being commodified. Can two women keep it alive in a world still dominated by men? They try to protect the written language’s true legacy, while being swept up into its new trendy comeback.
Ithaka
EDGE FESTIVAL
A father's love for his son and the fight for his freedom. This is the story of John Shipton and his son Julian Assange.
76 year-old retired builder John Shipton’s tireless campaign to save his son, Julian Assange. How will he find the strength to keep going?
With Julian facing a 175 year sentence, his family are confronting the prospect of losing him forever.
With Julian’s health declining in a British maximum-security prison and American government prosecutors attempting to extradite him to face trial in the US, the clock is ticking.
Ithaka is a reminder of the global issues at stake as well as an insight into the personal toll inflicted by the task of fighting for a cause bigger than oneself.
Long Live My Happy Head
A tender portrait of a graphic novelist who communicates his experience of cancer with creativity and humour.
After being diagnosed with a brain tumour in his early thirties, Scottish artist, Gordon Shaw decided to create a comic book to cope with his death. The tumour that Gordon decides to call Rick takes on a life of its own and helps him come to terms with his diagnosis and shortened life span.
As the tumour grows, the Covid-19 pandemic hits, forcing Gordon into isolation, away from his long-distance partner in the USA. This film explores how art, humour and love can combat our fears of mortality when we are faced with the reminder that the clock is ticking.
Melting Dreams
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Three Afghan girls travel to Europe to become pro skiers, but life in the West is not what they dreamed it would be.
Hoping to represent Afghanistan at the Olympic Games these young athletes dedicate all their efforts to skiing. But when they finally arrive in Europe for a two year stint, they face insurmountable cultural differences and the harsh standards of European professional sports.
When the idealisation of the Western world begins to vanish, so do their dreams of skiing. One by one, each takes a shot at finding a better life and faces high-stakes consequences.
The film offers up a unique perspective of Afghan culture not often shown, and the universal theme of dreaming big.
Director: Heidy Kancler
Country: Slovenia
Year: 2022
Duration: 84 min
Language: English / Afghani / Austrian
AKL: The Capitol, Wed 15 June, 8pm WLG: The Embassy, Sat 2 July, 5pm ONLINE: 16 June - 10 July
Penelope, My Love
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
supported by
The ferocity of a mother's love trades the battle for the path of peace.
For 18 years, director Claire Doyon has been filming Pénélope, her daughter with autism and Rett syndrome.
Composed of DV tapes, Super 8 reels and HD archives, this film traces the relationship between mother and daughter through different stages - the shock of the diagnosis, the fight against it, the resolve, the acceptance and discovery of a different mode of existence.
This deeply moving and intimate film is a tribute to the mother daughter bond and what our children can teach us.
Director: Claire Doyon
Country: France
Year: 2021
Duration: 88 min
AKL: Silky Otter, Fri 17 June, 4pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Fri 17 June, 4pm ONLINE: 18 June 10 July ASIA
Language: English / French
The Art of Rebellion
Artist, activist, and single mother, Lydia Emily, defies a crippling diagnosis with her will to survive.
The Art of Rebellion follows the LA-based political street artist recognised for her socially conscious, hand-painted murals. Not the typical profile of a street artist, Lydia is 40-something and a single mother of two kids, one of whom is autistic. Lydia also has Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a progressively debilitating disease that threatens her livelihood.
Lydia pushes against painful symptoms as her disease progresses, using shoelaces to secure paintbrushes to her hands as they lose their grip, to complete paintings for her first gallery show, declaring “I dare you to make this my last year, love my life - try and take it from me.”
ASIA PACIFIC PREMIERE
ASIA PACIFIC PREMIERE
PACIFIC PREMIERE
Be My Voice
Would you fight for the right to wear what you want?
Journalist and activist Masih Alinejad is the voice of millions of Iranian women rebelling against the forced hijab on social media. Leading one the largest acts of civil disobedience in today’s Iran, Masih uses her freedom in exile to amplify the protest in her home country.
The regime tightens its grip to regain control, and Masih’s courage is tested when violence and oppression threaten her own family members.
Crows are White
Will the outcast monk, that prefers heavy metal and ice cream to meditation, help one man reconcile his double life?
After decades of living a secret life, a filmmaker travels to a strict Japanese monastery in search of guidance but the only monk who will help him is a Slayer fan.
Together they forge an unlikely friendship that leads them to higher truths and occasionally, a little trouble. Shot over five years on three continents, Crows are White is an exploration of truth, faith and love, from the top of a mountain to the bottom of a sundae.
Disco Bloodbath
Children of the Mist
In the misty mountains of North Vietnam, 21st century feminism clashes with tradition, as a young woman enters puberty.
Di is a 12-year-old girl living in a small village where women get married very young, enduring the controversial tradition of “bride-kidnapping”.
When Di enters puberty, her personality changes drastically. The carefree little girl has turned into an impetuous, hypersensitive teenager constantly arguing with her mother. She yearns to rebel against the expectation to marry young.
On the Lunar New Year's Eve, when Di's parents come back home after celebrating, the house is silent: Di has disappeared.
Director Diem’s first feature-length film examines the battle between ancient customs and modern values.
The world of drag can be a nightmare in this bloodbath portrait of drama, betrayal, and sex.
From the back alleys and underground clubs of Karangahape Road, this film follows the politics and individual characters that shaped this iconic event.
The Disco Bloodbath event was created in 2015 out of frustration with the Auckland drag scene and its limitations on performers. Designed to be a subversive drag and cabaret show where almost nothing was off limits, the film observes the integral members of the troupe as it rapidly gains popularity and gradually morphs into something beyond what its original performers wanted it to be.
In this World Premiere, director Palmer captures the personality of K' Road. Disco Bloodbath wholeheartedly embraces the fringe of Aotearoa’s queer communities, providing a space that should welcome anyone, that is, if internal politics don’t get in the way.
Golden Land
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
There is no place like home, but where exactly is home?
Finnish-Somalian Mustafe discovers the land of his ancestors in the horn of Africa is full of copper and gold.
He swaps his family’s safe but boring life in the Nordics for Somaliland, an unrecognised, self-declared state in East Africa. In their new home there are no paved roads or waste disposal, camels and goats roam the streets and buildings are made of sheet metal.
The family grapples with culture shock. While Mustafe struggles to lift the treasures from underground in an area plagued by clan tensions, his children embark on a bumpy journey to uncover where they really belong.
Director: Inka Achté
Country: Finland / Sweden
Norway
Year: 2021
Duration: 82 min
Language: Finnish / English
I Am Not
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Nelly & Nadine
AKL: The Capitol, Wed 15 June, 6pm WLG: The Embassy, Sun 3 July, 1pm ONLINE: 16 June - 10 July
A heartfelt portrait of a young man searching for his roots and his place in society.
Oren is a teenager who was adopted from Guatemala by an Israeli family when he was a baby.
Growing up, he battled false mental diagnoses and suffered ridicule and racist treatment. Wielding his small video camera, Oren decides to embark on a life-changing mission to the country of his birth. His quest is to find his biological family and define his identity.
Film maker Tomer Heymann is Doc Edge Alumni. His acclaimed film Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life screened at the festival in 2019.
Director: Tomer Heymann
Country: Israel / Guatemala
Year: 2021 Duration: 95 min
Language: English / Hebrew
AKL: Silky Otter, Sun 19 June, 2pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sun 19 June, 2pm
WLG: The Embassy, Sun 3 July, 11am ONLINE: 20 June - 10 July
Love against all odds - a remarkable story of two women falling in love in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.
These star-crossed lovers meet on Christmas Eve, 1944 after Nelly receives a request from Nadine to sing a song from Madame Butterfly. Despite being separated in the last months of the war they reunite and spend the rest of their lives together.
Their love remained a secret for years, even from their closest family. Now Nelly's grandchild, Sylvie, opens unseen personal archives and uncovers their incredible story about war sufferings, mysteries, well-kept secrets, and the complicated stories of concentration camp survivors. Most of all, it’s a love story for all time that will move and inspire you.
Winner of the Teddy Award at Berlinale 2022.
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL Director: Magnus Gertten Country: Sweden / Belgium
Norway Year: 2022
Duration: 92 min
Language: English / French
Spanish / Swedish AKL: The Civic, Sat 25 June, 2pm
WLG: The Embassy, Sun 3 July, 2.45pm
ONLINE: 26 June - 10 July
One of Ours
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Racial profiling sends one young man on a mission to heal his past.
Josiah Wilson was adopted as a baby in Haiti and raised in an Indigenous family in Calgary, Canada.
Years later Josiah is racially profiled at an Indigenous basketball tournament. He is refused the right to play a sport he deeply loves and is exiled from his community.
In the aftermath of this hurtful rejection, he is left to examine who he really is. He strives to come to terms with the politics and tensions surrounding his family and community.
This powerfully intimate and moving story explores the struggle for identity under colonialism.
Director: Yasmine Mathurin Country: Canada
Year: 2021
Duration: 88 min
Language: English / Creole
ONLINE: 1 June - 10 July
Only I Can Hear
DOC EDGE FESTIVAL
Three hearing teenagers come of age in the vibrant, raucous Deaf community. They are CODA-Children of Deaf Adults, and they must search for their identity.
With incredible compassion, directors Itaru Matsui and New Zealander Heath Cozens follow these girls as they come of age in the Deaf community. How will they define their identity living in the middle of different cultures?
As these young women seek companionship in their shared experience, Only I Can Hear reveals a complex story of life skills, language, and perceptions that form their universe.
With CODA taking home the Best Picture Award at the 2022 Oscars, this documentary gives a meaningful backstory to the real lives of these exceptional humans.
Director: Heath Cozens, Itaru Matsui
Country: Japan / New Zealand / USA
Year: 2022
Duration: 78 min
AKL: The Capitol, Fri 24 June, 2pm
CHCH: Silky Otter, Sat 25 June, 2.30pm
WLG: The Embassy, Sat 2 July, 10.30am ONLINE: 25 June 10 July INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Language: English / Japanese
Doc Edge Superhero 2022
Each year, Doc Edge recognises a person who has made outstanding contribution to documentary by declaring them a Superhero.
Vincent Burke (1952-2022) was a New Zealand television and film producer. Burke was the founder of Top Shelf Productions which was established in 1988. With a career spanning thirty years, Burke was noted for his documentary work and television productions which addressed social issues and everyday life.
A long-time supporter of Doc Edge, Vincent was generous with his time and knowledge. This was evident in the care he took when mentoring filmmakers. In 2019, Vincent was a Doc Edge Pitch decision-maker when he struck up a working relationship to executive produce Vea Mafile’o and Jeremiah Tauamiti’s pitch which went on to be their feature debut, For My Father’s Kingdom that had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. He was previously honoured as the Screen Production and Development Association of NZ (SPADA)’s Industry Champion in 2012 for his lengthy career and for giving back as a mentor, mediator and supporter of a range of industry initiatives.
His larger-than-life presence and experience will forever be remembered.
“We didn’t have a mission statement but if you look over the long list of programmes we made, and the programmes Vincent made before I came on board, there’s a strong social imperative to just about all of them – What’s Really In Our Food, Making New Zealand, Media7 in all its incarnations, docos about every social issue you can think of, and of course Target. These were shows that didn’t just entertain, they impacted peoples lives. This was entirely consistent with the Vincent I knew - he cared about our country and our people.”
Laurie Clarke, Owner & Executive Producer, Top Shelf Productions.
It’s time to explore ..... Tahiti
Doc Edge Schools
SCHOOLS FESTIVAL SESSIONS
AUCKLAND - TAHITI - LOS ANGELES - SEATTLE - PARIS - TOKYO Enjoy full service in all classes * Complimentary WiFi for Poerava Business
Teachers and students can enjoy four sessions of top-quality films over two days in both Auckland & Wellington. If you'd prefer to watch online, you can have a festival experience in the classroom with premiere events and bonus educational films not shown during the in-theatre sessions.
docedge.nz/schools
Doc Edge Schools engages students year 5 - tertiary, with eye opening educational documentaries and resources for educators.
SCHOOLS FESTIVAL SESSIONS
AUCKLAND, WELLINGTON & ONLINE NATIONWIDE
Ola Ka Honua Directed by Jilli Rose
presented by
Freedom Swimmer
Director Olivia Martin-McGuire
Country Australia, France, UK
Year 2021
Duration 15 min
Language Cantonese
A granddaughter asks her grandfather to recount his journey from China, swimming to Hong Kong in the 1970s. A universal story of the dispossessed— what it takes to flee your country, what it means to fight for freedom, and what it is like to leave everything in hope of liberty.
More Than I Remember
Director Amy Bench
Country USA
Year 2022
Duration 14 min
Language English
One night at her home in southeastern Congo, 14-year-old Mugeni awakes to the sounds of bombs and finds herself thrust into a remarkable solo journey across the globe while remaining determined to reunite with her lost loved ones and lift up the Banyamulenge people off The Congo.
Holy Holocaust
Director Noa Berman-Herzberg, Osi Wald
Country Israel
Year 2021
Duration 18 min
Language English
A dark secret from the past is suddenly exposed, creating a chasm between two close friends; Jenny the German, and Noa the Israeli. One discovers that she is the black granddaughter of a renowned Arch-Nazi and her life turns upside down. The other does everything she can to not follow suit.
My Grandmother is an Egg
Director Wu-Ching Chang
Country Taiwan
Year 2021
Duration 8 min
Language Mandarin
A stirring tribute told by director Chang about her grandmother who, as a T’ung-yang-hsi, was sold as a young girl to another family and raised as their future daughter-in-law. Forced to perform the household chores and denied an education, this hardworking woman found freedom through financial independence.
Hosted by
Supported by Initiated by
English / Korean
‘Our Aotearoa’ is an animated documentary series that speaks to immigrants' personal experiences living in Aotearoa. These episodes explore themes of racism, discrimination, loss, loneliness, and maintaining cultural ties while living in another country.
Stuck in a state of limbo, Tymour, a Kurdish asylum seeker, dwells on the difficulties of his past as his future hangs in the balance.
Monica Cordero New Zealand
The Other Side of Paradise
Elliott Watson
Anshan Diaries
Director Charles Xiuzhi Dong
Country USA / China
Year 2021
Duration 28 min
Language Mandarin
Director Dong casts his grandpa, a revolutionary of the left-wing, as the film’s lead, investigating and retracing his family saga spanning three decades of Chinese post-cultural revolution history.
Kinderland
Director Amy Grappell
Country USA
Year 2021
Duration 33 min
Language English
The tale of a century-old rivalry between two Jewish summer camps and their attempt at a newfound alliance, inspiring unity among today’s divided left.
Émigrés
Director Betsy Tsai
Country United States
Year 2021
Duration 14 min
Language English / Mandarin
Émigrés offers a brief glimpse into how an immigrant family remains comfortably estranged and elusive of its history. The “why” might have gotten lost along the way.
The Great Journey
Director Juliette Lamboley
Country France
Year 2021
Duration 38 min
Language Chinese / French / Russian / Mongolian
A funny and sensitive portrayal of old age.
The Silent Shore
Director Timothee Corteggiani, Nathalie Giraud
Country France
Year 2021
Duration 37 min
Language French
Famous fantasy author Pierre Dubois and his wife, Aline, discuss the loss of their teenage daughter Melanie, who committed suicide after a heartbreak.
When the Swallows Fly Away
Director Sebastien Pins
Country Belgium
Year 2021
Duration 19 min
Language French
In a small rural village, a young boy befriends Fernand and Andrée, a farmer couple who, at 80-year-old, find themselves in trouble feeding their remaining livestock.
A Forgotten Life
Director Matt Komo
Country USA
Year 2020
Duration 22 min
Language English
Where does a memory go when it dies?
Lalito 10
Director Jordan Matthew Horowitz
Country USA
Year 2022
Duration 17 min
Language Spanish
When COVID-19 forced his school to close and remote learning proved impossible, a teacher in Guatemala built a classroom on wheels to bring education directly to his students.
Letter to San Zaw Htway
Director Petr Lom
Country Netherlands
Year 2021
Duration 26 min
Language English
In the aftermath of the military coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, the loved ones of Burmese artist and activist San Zaw Htway write letters to him.
Nuisance Bear
Director Gabriela Osio Vanden, Jack Weisman
Country Canada
Year 2021
Duration 14 min
Language English
With beautifully composed shots and calmly panning camerawork, this short film assumes the bear’s perspective as it plods along trying to find a way through town. A story of two colliding worlds told with stunning contrasting images.
Soul Lines
Director Rafa Arroyo
Country Spain
Year 2021
Duration 14 min
Language Spanish
Even if the wounds of the past are closed and you forgive all those who have hurt you, the pain always remains in your heart. An intimate portrait of María José Arroyo’s life, tracing the scars of her past and discovering the medicine of her soul.
ur way of torytelling O S
Find us on level one at the
Providing post production to award-winning documentaries for over a decade.
The Great Abandonment
Director Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya
Country India
Year 2021
Duration 28 min
Language Hindi
The Last Marathon
Director Ken Arlidge
Country New Zealand / USA
Year 2022
Duration 35 min
Language English
As the world’s largest Covid lockdown is announced in India, 1.3 billion people are commanded to stay home , at four hours’ notice. Trickling out of megacities are millions of migrant labourers, stranded without jobs and wages to survive another day.
Wildfire
Director Paul Wolffram
Country New Zealand
Year 2022
Duration 17 min
Language English
Wildfire explores the rise of ‘sanguma’ - sorcery, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Sorcery Accusation Related Violence (SARV) is an introduced idea, a new thing to many towns and villages in the Highlands. The film provides direct accounts from those who combat the violence, and from those who have witnessed and participated in sorcery killings.
Anton Maillie is an Emmy Award-winning television and film producer, a recovering alcoholic, and the 153rd person to run a marathon on all seven continents. Anton was diagnosed with ALS on Jan 6, 2020, after four years of testing.
LOIMATA, The Sweetest Tears Winner of NZ On Air Best Documentary 2021
Acts For The Invisible
Director Kate Vinen
Country Australia
Year 2021
Duration 19 min
Language English
A philosophical fashion designer loses his life partner and is propelled towards an entirely new life ... far away from the fashion world. But can we ever really leave our old life behind?
Beirut Dreams in Colour
Director Michael Collins
Country USA
Year 2022
Duration 29 min
Language Arabic / English
Renegades, rebels, pioneers… Mashrou’ Leila are indie-rock gods in the Arab world. But their fame comes with a price. A rare nuanced look into the LGBTQ politics of the Middle East, and a moving testament to the power of music, and the universal desire for freedom.
Two-Spirit
Director Monica Taboada-Tapia
Country Colombia
Year 2021
Duration 16 min
Language Spanish
For Georgina, an indigenous transgender woman, life in the desert is lonely and cruel. In her small village, no one understands who she is.
Adel
Director Cayetano Gonzalez
Country Spain
Year 2021
Duration 7 min
Language English
After several years working as a high fashion model, Adel begins to question her surroundings and sense the absurdity of her situation. To ease her mind, she uses her imagination to justify the farcical requests she is faced with.
Drive Like a Girl
Director Malcolm Clarke
Country China
Year 2021
Duration 36 min
Language Mandarin
Lin, barely 1.5 meters tall, is a young woman who drives a 10-meter truck every day.
Whether it is the hardship of the long-distance journey, the misfortune of the family, or the unsuccessful marriage life, none of them have changed Lin’s tenaciousness.
Neurodivergent
Director Afton Quast Saler
Country USA
Year 2021
Duration 26 min
Language English
In a personal and insightful mixed-media experience inside the ADHD mind, a 35-year-old film student is diagnosed with ADHD leading to questions about her past and future, while trying to make sense of this misunderstood disorder.
Scope
Director Kaia Kahurangi Jamieson
Country New Zealand
Year 2021
Duration 20 min
Language English
Embarking on their final year at high school, in Covid-free New Zealand, a small group of self-starter teens set their sights on the National Hip Hop competition circuit.
Sophie and the Baron
Director Alexandria Jackson
Country United States
Year 2021
Duration 32 min
Language English
This charming story of an unlikely friendship between iconic photographer Baron Wolman at the end of his prolific career and up-andcoming artist Sophie Kipner at the beginning of hers, takes us on an uplifting journey into an artistic collaboration that transcends eras and mediums.
The Boys Club
Director Yihwen Chen
Country Malaysia
Year 2021
Duration 23 min
Language English
A Malaysian female filmmaker dreamt of making the first feature documentary for theatrical release in her country. After four years of struggles, her film premiered with glowing reviews. But soon after, she lost her job. This documentary reveals her deeply personal and harrowing filmmaking journey of enduring sexual
phantom billstickers
Coming Home
Director Julia Maria Diana Jansch
Country South Africa
Year 2021
Duration 40 min
Language English
A musical pigeon fancier, trapped in a small town, finds a new sense of freedom through his birds.
Herd
Director Omer Daida
Country Israel
Year 2021
Duration 37 min
Language Hebrew
Itamar, Naama’s father, owns a ranch that raises cattle for slaughter. Ten-year-old Naama deals with a big philosophical question regarding life & death while working with her father. Together they attempt to bridge their worldview regarding death, while Naama develops feelings for the cattle, Itamar sees death as an inevitable part of life.
I Am Trying to Remember
Director Pegah Ahangarani
Country Iran / Czech Republic
Year 2021
Duration 15 min
Language Farsi
“Why have they erased you?” He said: “Maybe they are scared.” I said: “Whoever is scared, should erase themselves.” He said: “In that case, the faces of the living would all be gone and only the dead would remain.”
Men of Salt
Director Luis Armando Sosa Gil
Country Mexico
Year 2022
Duration 14 min
Language Spanish
Cristobal, a young fisherman, comes back home after an unsuccessful migration attempt. He belongs to a fishing community that resists dying in one of the most polluted rivers in Mexico. This confronts him about his ideas of family, identity and the future.
The Milford Road
Director Cole Benson Yeoman
Country New Zealand
Year 2021
Duration 13 min
Language English
Behind the beauty and awe of the Milford Road is a team that operates year-round to keep the lifeline between Milford Sound and Te Anau open and safe for travel. Traversing the remote and wildly rugged terrain of Fiordland, the 119km stretch of State Highway 94 has many hazards and dangers to manage. Remoteness, extremely volatile weather, rockfall hazard, and immensely powerful avalanches are just some of the challenges that make it one of the world’s most unique roading programmes.
Wild is the Spring
Director Adla Massoud
Country United States
Year 2021
Duration 22 min
Language Arabic / Kurdish
Through a series of vignettes from the ancient and war-torn Levant, the film tells the lives of diverse ethnic communities struggling to survive when life descends into chaos.
Water, Wind, Dust and Bread
Director Mahdi Zamanpour Kiasaru
Country Iran
Year 2021
Duration 25 min
Language Persian
The moving story is about the povertystricken lives of 11-year-old boy Abolfazl and 8-year-old girl Setayesh with no birth certificate living in remote border areas.
Doc Edge XR Exhibition
supported by
Doc Edge Exhibition is a showcase of digital interactive storytelling featuring top international and local VR, AR, installations, and digital stories.
18-19 June at Media Design School, AucklandDoc Edge Forum and Exhibition Launch Events
GOLIATH: PLAYING WITH REALITY
Director: Barry Gene Murphy, May Abdalla
Producer: Floreal Films
Country: France, UK
Year: 2021
Duration: 25 min
Category: Interactive VR Award / Festival: Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Work at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.
Through mind-bending animation, explore the limits of reality and a true story of mental health and the power of gaming. Echo (narrated by Tilda Swinton) guides you through the many realities of Goliath.
IHYANGJEONG: CARVING WITH MEMORIES
Director: Sunghwan Lee
Producer: Rene Hyewon Lee, Mina Hyeon
Country: South Korea
Year: 2022
Duration: 16 min
Category: Interactive VR Award / Festival: SXSW 2022, DOK Leipzig 2021, IDFA DocLab 2020
Inspired by the homes of ancestors with numerous memories, the main character builds a new house where he can carve his own memories.
23 - 26 June at the Civic & the Auckland Museum – XR Exhibition and Immersive Events
30 June - 3 July at the Te Auaha Gallery, Wellington – Forum Events, XR Exhibition and Immersive events
ON THE MORNING YOU WAKE
Director: Pierre Zandrowicz, Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, Arnaud Colinart
Country: France, UK
Year: 2022
Duration: 3 x chapters 20-60 min
Category: Interactive VR Award / Festival: SXSW 2022 Winner XR Experience
“BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAI’I. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL".
Nothing Happened, Everything Changed
RANGI TUWHERA OPEN SKY
Director: Kat Lintott, Dave Whitehead
Country: New Zealand
Year: 2021
Duration: 20 min
Category: Interactive VR Award / Festival: imagineNATIVE 2021
Rangi Tuwhera Open Sky offers a glimpse into the world of Taonga Pūoro or traditional Māori instruments. We have a virtual encounter with a real p
rino and can examine the detailed carving on it created by master carver Sir Brian Flintoff.
Doc Edge XR Exhibition
VR INTERACTIVE
SPEAK TO AWAKEN: KUSUNDA
Director: Gayatri Parameswaran, Felix Gaedtke
Country: Germany
Year: 2021
Duration: 20 min
Category: Interactive VR Award / Festival: Stereopsia 2021, Tribeca
Kusunda, a voice-driven interactive experience, explores what it means to lose a language and what it takes to preserve one.
Director:
Country: Australia
Year: 2021
Duration: from 12 min
Award / Festival: IDFA DocLab Liminal Reality 2021 Category: Online Experience
What is it like to communicate in sign language? Find out for yourself in Ravi and Emma, an interactive experience that celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and love—with humor and inventiveness. Join in and you’ll find yourself immersed in the story of deaf-born designer Ravi and Emma, a hearing student.
ONLINE EXPERIENCE
#AMiNORMAL
Director: Mika Orr
Country: France
Year: 2021
Duration: from 8 - 96 min Award / Festival: IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling 2021 Category: Online Experience
What does normal mean? Mika Orr, director and daughter of a psychiatrist, takes a look at widespread mental disorders.
Discover he Amazing Selection of digital work at IF Ditital Institut Francais: https://ifdigital.institutfrancais.com/en
MAHARAJA’S CHILDREN: A BRAVE BUNCH IN INDIA
Director: Thomas Stankiewicz
Country: Poland
Year: 2021
Duration: from 90 min
Award / Festival: Slamdance International Film Festival 2021
Category: Online Experience
A true story about a boy Wiesio Stypula, one of thousands of Polish orphans who were saved from the hell of World War II by an Indian Maharajah Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji.
RAVI AND EMMA
Kylie Boltin, Ella Rubeli, Ravi Vasavan, Emma Anderson
Doc Edge XR Exhibition
THE HANGMAN AT HOME
Director: Michelle Kranot, Uri Kranot
Producer: Floreal Films
Country: Canada, Denmark, France
Year: 2020
Duration: 25 min
Category: VR Film
"The Hangman at Home" is an interactive animated experience exploring themes surrounding acknowledgement and the awkward intimacy of humanness.
WHAKAKITENGA
Director: Wiremu Grace, Miriam Ross, Paul Wolffram
Country: New Zealand
Year: 2020
Duration: 9 min
Category: VR Film
Whakakitenga transports viewers to 1846 on the eve of great change for the Ngati Toa people residing in Aotearoa, New Zealand. It provides a cinematic VR experience of the Maori world, through the eyes of Ngati Toa chief Te Rangihaeata.
THE LEAP
Director: Boris Hars-Tschachotin
Country: Germany
Year: 2021
Duration: 20 min
Award / Festival: FIPADOCS 2022, Raindance 2021
Category: VR Film
The photo of the GDR border guard Conrad Schumann fleeing to the West in the year 1961 is considered an icon of the 20th century. In the Deutsches Historisches Museum, film director Boris Hars-Tschachotin takes us back to the year 1961 in a 360° virtual reality installation.
TAPUTERANGA MARINE RESERVE
Director: Nicole Miller
Producer: Friends of Taputeranga Marine Reserve
Country: New Zealand
Year: 2020
Duration: 3 min
Category: VR Film
Take a look under the waves, get personal with the local marine life and discover the remains of the HMNZS Wellington (F69) shipwreck!
Director: Jermaine Dean, Tanu Gago
Producer: Piki Films, FAFSWAG, Wrestler
Country: New Zealand
Year: 2021
Duration: 4 min
Award / Festival: Sundance as virtual Experience, World Premiere as Physical Installation Category: AR Experience
If your gods could whisper in your ear, what would they say?
Director: Gabo Arora, David Rosenberg, Glen Neath
Country: USA
Year: 2022
Duration: 30 min
Category: AI Experience
PARADISE is a two person AI-powered immersive audio experience for intimate partners that explore why we stay together or fall apart.
WARNING: PLEASE BE AWARE SHOWS ARE 16+ AND EXPLORE THEMES OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE.
IMMERSIVE FILMS
SKIN
Director: Marcos Pimentel
Country: Brazil
Year: 2021
Duration: from 75 min
Category: Online & Film Installation
Documentary about the interaction between the Brazilian city's inhabitants and what is expressed in its walls.
ORDER & CHAOS
Director: Thomas Vanz
Country: France
Year: 2021
Duration: from 4 min
Category: Online & Film Installation
Emergence of patterns in chaos or the way we fall in love. True beauty is everywhere.
Director: Josef Gatti
Country: Australia
Year: 2021
Duration: from 28 min
Category: Online & Film Installation
Phenomena fuses art and science together to explore naturally occurring patterns.
Director: Ayce Kartal
Country: France
Year: 2021
Duration: from 6 min
Category: Film Installation
The planet locks itself in. Our world is being drained of its substance and digital life forms are multiplying.
Director: Chouwa Liang
Country: Australia
Year: 2021
Duration: from 16 min
Category: Online & Film Installation
Three Chinese ladies developed their romantic relationships with artificially intelligent virtual partners in real life.
SENTIENCE 知覺
Director: Elliot J. Spencer
Country: Australia
Year: 2021
Duration: from 9 min
Category: Online & Film Installation
Sentience starkly contrasts ancient mountains and the abrasive imposition of modernity.
WHERE ARE WE HEADED?
Director: Ruslan Fetodow
Country: Russian Federation
Year: 2021
Duration: 63 min
Category: Online & Film Installation
This is a road movie encapsulated in the Moscow metro system and filmed over the course of one year.
ATUA
PARADISE
MY AI LOVER
PHENOMENA
I GOTTA LOOK GOOD FOR THE APOCALYPSE
The 2022 Team
THE DOC EDGE TEAM 2022
Executive Director: Dan Shanan
Director: Alex Lee
General Manager & Festival Producer: Rachael Penman
Sales & Customer Relations Lead: Kristen Cartmer
Operations & Projects Executive: Christian Jensen
Web/IT Manager: John Lau
Design & Digital Media Coordinator: Jarrod Dobell
Schools Engagement Coordinator: Kate McLaren
Industry Engagement Coordinator: Belle Chalisa
Marketing & Communication Coordinator: Deb Byrnand
In-Theatre Festival Production Manager: Alan Wilson
Auckland Festival Coordinator: Veronica Maitre
Wellington Coordinator: Colleen Restieaux
Virtual Festival Production Coordinator: Duncan Dykes
XR Exhibition Coordinator: Peter Larsen
Media & PR (Elephant Publicity): Michelle Lafferty
Partnerships & Festival Administrator: Kelly Gilbride
Sales & Customer Journey Administrator: Annabelle Wong
Programme Graphic Design: Troy Cartmer
Good Pitch Outreach Director: Jude Chelliah
Festival & Community Outreach Intern: Yijing Teng
Industry & Community Outreach Intern: Ivy Hu
Digital Editor Intern: Paul Luo
International Programme Advisor: Corey Tong
Awards MC: Geeling Ching
Screening support:
Andreas Heinemann, Benedict Reid, Erin Jensen, Kate Gordon, Sacha Handsaker, Amy McDaid, Rosetta Allan, Marilyn McFadyen, Yolaine Dumesnil, Dea Jeremic, Isabelle Hoskyn, Peter Rowney, Keeara Ofren, Jason Pengelly, Minh Nguyen, Megan Jones, Richard Spartacus J PattersonScholes, Shoaib Iqbal, Dejan Jeremic, Jo Barry, Morgana Cannon, Tina Stanimiroff, Janine Edge, Sharon Fergusson, Colleen Maria Leniahn
A big thank you to all the other interns & volunteers throughout the year.
DELIVERING CREATIVE, CONTENT AND PRINT SERVICES
BEYOND NORMAL RANGE
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Providing Doc Edge Festival with high quality print solutions is our way of supporting the future of art & culture
Chair: Glenn Johnstone
Trustees: Deborah Hart, Mike Rehu, Cameron McGregor, Alex Lee, Dan Shanan
Secretary: Zoey Law
Patron: Helen Clark
Ambassador/Champion: Judy
Bookkeeper: Allison Peirse Legal
