The must-see movies at this year’s Doc Edge Film Festival
Njames.croot@stuff.co.nz
ew Zealand’s annual celebration of global documentary making has returned, again in a form that offers the best of both worlds.
As well as in-cinema seasons in Auckland and Wellington, Doc Edge Festival’s 2023 lineup will also be available to stream from virtually anywhere in Aotearoa.
In all, the Oscar-qualifying festival’s programme features more than 70 features and shorts selected from submissions from across the planet.
Festival director Alex Lee says the 18th edition will not only showcase ‘‘an incredible lineup of thoughtprovoking films’’, it also features innovative XR projects and honour the work of documentary luminaries like Ans Westra and Annie Goldson.
‘‘This year’s festival promises to be a celebration of documentary storytelling at its finest and we look forward to welcoming audiences to be inspired, challenged and entertained.’’
After looking through the lineup and previewing a selection, Stuff to Watch has come up with a list of nine tales we believe are well worth seeking out.
A Compassionate Spy
Perfectly timed for those after a Manhattan Project primer ahead of the debut of Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer next month, Steve James’ (Hoop Dreams, Life, Itself) look at the life of the American atomic bomb programme’s youngest physicist Ted Hall is fascinating and frightening in equal measure.
Through archival footage and interviews with experts and family members, you will learn how Hall was increasingly concerned at his country’s behaviour towards sharing its information with its World War II ally the Soviet Union and the resulting potential for Armageddon. So he reached out – and did the unthinkable.
Deep Rising
Everyone’s favourite honorary New Zealander Jason Momoa narrates this deep dive into the parts of the ocean we’re only just beginning to truly explore – and seeking to exploit. While it celebrates the unique marine life that dwells among the dark depths, Matthieu Rytz’s tale also highlights the possibilities and threats
that mining this ecosystem might bring. Could it be a more sustainable answer to our exponentially growing need for certain metals for cleanenergy batteries? One man certainly thinks so – and has set up a business to prove it.
Frances Hodgkins, Anything but a Still Life
A Dunedin-to-Dorchester look at the life of one of our – eventually – mostcelebrated painters. Using the artist’s own letters to family and friends, director Blandine Massiet du Biest’s feature debut creates an intimate portrait of a creative who really thrived once she left our shores, but was a little frustrated by the lack of acclaim for her work back home.
Interviews with experts and fellow
creatives help put her works and legacy in perspective, and attempt to give an insight into her intriguing private life.
Jane Campion, The Cinema Woman
A chronicle of the double Academy Award-winning Kiwi director’s career, this features precious little new material, but it’s a highly effective compilation of her 40 years of cinematic storytelling. Particularly fascinating is footage of her early years at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Janet Frame biopic An Angel at My Table and extended coverage of her Palme d’Or experience with The Piano while eight months pregnant.
Knowing the Score
Cate Blanchett executive produced this intriguing and entertaining look at a real-life Lydia Tar. Australian Simone Young has been a trailblazing, glass-ceiling busting conductor, who has overcome struggles, disappointments and considerable opposition to become one of the most revered baton-wavers in the game. Director Janine Hosking skilfully blends archival footage with new interviews to add plenty of colour and depth to someone who is already, clearly, a fascinating character.
Love to Love you, Donna Summer
Following in the footsteps and format of Brett Morgan’s audacious David Bowie audio-visual montage Moonage Daydream, Roger Rees Williams (Life, Animated) explores the life and times of the gospel singer who became a disco queen (her initial breakout hit was a 20-minute version of Love to Love You Baby that was banned by the BBC for its explicit lyrics and multiple ‘‘orgasms’’).
Combining her performances with the late superstar’s own words and memories from close family and friends, this doesn’t shy away from the darker moments in her life.
The Pawnshop
One of the most entertaining fly-on-the-wall documentaries in year’s festival, this Polish film takes viewers inside that country’s largest emporium of pre-loved goods.
But if the eclectic mix of curios, sex books, barely functioning small appliances and strange ephemera is fascinating, it’s the tension between tight-fisted boss Wieslaw and his long-suffering workers (especially his long-term partner Jola) that really compels. And that’s before you learn about their grand scheme for saving the shop from seemingly impending financial disaster.
Praying for Armageddon
This one will give you nightmares for weeks. Norwegian director Tonje Hessen Schei’s audacious film explores the ‘‘unholy alliance’’ between US politics and evangelical Christianity. Featuring jaw-dropping interviews, as well as truly disturbing footage, a frightening picture emerges of the power a few mega church pastors have over a large group of American voters and their right-wing representatives. Particularly troubling is their belief in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and their seeming mission to bring about an apocalyptic ‘‘Holy War’’ to achieve that. This is surely the movie Donald Trump and his ilk do not want you to see.
Sex with Sue
Move over Dr Ruth Westheimer, Canada has its own famous mature sex therapist – and she was far more hands-on. Now 93, former registered nurse Sue Johanson became a sensation across North America in the 90s and noughties with her phone-in television talk shows The Sunday Night Sex Show and Talk Sex.
Lisa Rideout’s doco rightly revels in the footage of the seemingly unflappable Johanson as she deals with curly questions, and crew members reminisce about their favourite moments and how they were roped in to road test certain ‘‘toys’’.
Doc Edge 2023 is screening at Auckland’s Capitol Cinema (until Monday) and Wellington’s Roxy Cinema (Wednesday to June 18). Films will also then be available to view at vc.docedge.nz from June 19 to July 9.