THE 2019 DOC EDGE AWARD WINNERS JUST ANNOUNCED

THE 2019 DOC EDGE AWARD WINNERS JUST ANNOUNCED

Film: Call Me Intern

The 14^th annual Documentary Edge International Film Festival (Doc Edge) officially opened last night with Assholes: A Theory at Q Theatre. The festival runs in Auckland until 9^th June, before heading to Wellington (13^th – 23^rd June) with a fantastic selection of inspiring and poignant documentaries. This evening at The Civic’s stunning Wintergarden, Doc Edge celebrated documentary excellence alongside local and international filmmakers as they announced the 2019 award winners.

Doc Edge is an Oscar-qualifying film festival and the winner of the Best NZ Short, NZ Feature, International Short and International Feature all qualify for consideration for the 2020 Academy Awards.
 

Call Me Intern, by filmmakers Leo David Hyde and Nathalie Berger took out Best NZ Feature and Best NZ Editing. The documentary gives a voice to the growing movement for intern rights across the globe. Another kiwi film, Camino Skies by filmmakers Fergus Grady and Noel Smyth also received two awards, for Best NZ Director and Best NZ Emerging Filmmaker, with their inspiring documentary following six strangers from NZ and Australia as they hope to overcome personal and physical trauma by taking on the Camino de Santiago walk.

Taking out the award for Best International Feature is Midnight Traveler, with the judges calling it “an unwaveringly brave and intensely urgent film”. The director Hassan Fazili was both filmmaker and protagonist, sharing an intimate insight into the treacherous journey of his refugee family fleeing Afghanistan, capturing moments of familial love, tension and humour amidst the hardship.

Yang Sun and S. Leo Chiang won the Best International Director award for their film Our Time Machine. The documentary tells the story of a father and son as they confront their mortality through a visually stunning and haunting time-travel adventure.

Full list of Doc Edge Awards 2019 Winners: 
Images for winning documentaries available here.

New Zealand Competition – Feature Documentary
Best New Zealand Feature: Call Me Intern – Cash prize of $8,000 from NZ On Air
Special Mention: Marks of Mana
Best New Zealand Director: Fergus Grady & Noel Smyth – Camino Skies
Best New Zealand Emerging Filmmaker:  Fergus Grady & Noel Smyth – Camino Skies - Cash prize of $1,000 from Department of Post
Best New Zealand Editing: Call Me Intern
Best New Zealand Cinematography: Marks of Mana

New Zealand Competition – Short Documentary
Best New Zealand Short: Humans - Cash prize of $2,000 from NZ On Air
Special Mention: The Breath Connection

International Competition – Feature Documentary
Best International Feature: Midnight Traveler  - Cash prize of $3,500 from Panasonic
Special Mention: On Her Shoulders
Special Mention: Ghost Fleet
Best International Director: S. Leo Chiang & Yang Sun – Our Time Machine

International Competition – Short Documentary
Best Short: Beneath the Ink - Cash prize of $1,500 from Panasonic
Special Mention: Again/Noch Einmal

Doc Edge Superhero: Heddy Honigmann

Festival Category Winners 
All In The Family: Our Time Machine
Around the World in 8 Films: American Factory
Art Attack: Megalodemocrat: The Public Art of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
Best of Fest: Midnight Traveler
Crime & Conspiracy: Sea of Shadows
Fearless: On Her Shoulders
Future Watch: Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain