Last week the Doc Edge Industry event announced the winners in the 2024 Film Festival. The awards ceremony was broadcast live. You can watch the recorded session here.
The festival is still taking place around the country, with many great films on offer! Below are a select few:
Every Little Thing The film follows Terry Masear, who, amidst the glamour of Hollywood, Los Angeles, finds herself on a transformative journey as she nurtures wounded hummingbirds. Unravelling a visually captivating and magical tale of love, fragility, and healing, award-winning Doc Edge alumna director Aitken has found the perfect film subject in Masear, who is not only warm, knowledgeable, and slightly eccentric but also the author of the bestselling memoir Fastest Things on Wings. Coupled with breathtaking slow-motion macro photography to capture the antics of hummingbirds barely bigger than a bumble bee, the film celebrates the delicate beauty found in tiny acts of greatness. *Won five Doc Edge awards for Best NZ Feature, Best NZ Director, Best Editing, Best NZ Cinematography and Best NZ Sound.* Director Sally Aitken will be present following the Auckland and Wellington screenings on 3rd and 4th of July.
Sugarcane A stunning tribute to the resilience of indigenous people and their way of life, this debut film from directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning. Set amidst a ground-breaking investigation into abuse and death at an Indian residential school, the film empowers participants to break cycles of intergenerational trauma by bearing witness to painful, long-ignored truths and the love that endures within their families despite genocide. ** Won two Doc Edge awards for Best International Feature and Best International Sound **
Sabbath Queen Filmed over 21 years the film follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie's epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer father, and the founder of Lab/Shul - an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. ** At the screening in Auckland on Sunday, July 7 the filmmaker Sandi DuBowski will be in attendance for Q&A! **
Invisible Nation With unprecedented access to Taiwan’s sitting head of state, director Hope investigates the election and tenure of Tsai Ing-wen, the first female president of Taiwan. Thorough, incisive and bristling with tension, the film is a living account of Tsai’s tightrope walk between the colossal geopolitical forces of the U.S. and China, carefully balancing the hopes and dreams of her nation. ** Best International Feature, Special Mention **
I Shall Not Hate From Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp to the University of Toronto and the Supreme Court of Israel, the film follows the uncharted path of Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, The first Palestinian doctor that worked in an Israeli hospital delivering babies, whose ethos of forgiveness and reconciliation is put to the ultimate test when an Israeli tank bombs his house, killing his three daughters. Against all odds, he turns his tragedy into a global campaign to eradicate hate. ** Won two Doc Edge awards for Best International Cinematography and Festival Category - Bridges of Understanding **
See the full list up of winning films, here.
Get your passes, here and go check out some of the incredible films on offer in your region!