Q&A with DocEdge NZ Fest co-director Alex Lee

The 20th anniversary DocEdge NZ festival is now underway in Auckland with dates to follow in Wellington and Christchurch before going online and nationwide.

The festival's co-director sat down to discuss the 20th anniversary and to reflect on the festival's past.

Congratulations on 20 years, how does it feel to have got there?\

We’re still in shock that we have got here. Time has flown by and we have just put our heads down and done the mahi. When you work on something you are committed to and passionate about, you become so focussed and driven, that all you do is to survive and hopefully thrive. But it’s awesome to get here and we can’t wait for Doc Edge to move into the next decade. There’s so much still to do and such awesome potential to make a difference.

As you reflect back on the past two decades, what are your three outstanding memories of the journey you've taken?

The three most enduring memories for us will be firstly, our Launch of Doc Edge in 2025 when the then Prime Minister Helen Clark and her Ministers, Phil Goff and Margaret Wilson, showed up to support us, two days out from the National Elections. The second is when we were advised we were selected to be an Oscar qualifying Film Festival, one of two festivals in the world that can qualify 4 films for Oscar consideration, Best NZ Feature, Best NZ Short, Best International Feature and Best International Short. The third moment is when we received the call to say we have been selected to be part of MBIE’s Arts & Cultural Major Event Incubator, partnering us on our aspiration to become the leading Asia-Pacific documentary sector. That endorsements was an endorphin shot for Doc Edge and reaffirmed our mission.

Of the programme this year, which film surprised you the most and why?

There are so many films that have surprised us. This makes it hard for us to choose one title. Each film has a story that is memorable. Each film will surprise and move you. You can choose one of our 91 films and immersive projects and come away from after watching it, feeling you have learnt something

Which film do you think audiences will truly love and why?

The Dating Game has been a festival favourites since it was released. We know this will continue in New Zealand. It’s a social commentary subject done with humour and wit while celebrating and highlighting cultural differences.

Which film do you think is the hidden gem of the programme and why?

Front Row is awesome about film telling the Ukrainian story by featuring a subject who is a soldier who loses his leg, who then finds the opportunity to tell his story and become part of a ballet performance performed in public. The film demonstrated resilience, fortitude and coming through adversity, all done with the power of music and dance. Very moving and inspirational.

If you had to make a documentary in 2025, what would be your subject, your pitch for it and your way of making it stand out?

I will answer the question by firstly saying that we need documentaries that inspire and bring to the
surface important issues facing our society but being lighter in approach perhaps using comedy. We live in difficult times and audiences are finding it hard to be motivated to watch dark and depressing films when these are being fed to us in all types of feed. I do suspect the next few years; we will continue to see stories about the raging divisions in this world which can often be dark and foreboding. All will most likely be urgent but if you have many films on similar topics, the problem is going to be which will stand out? We can’t show multiple documentaries on the same topic year after year.

Personally, I think the most pressing documentary to be made is about the mass control and manipulation by social media influencers and pressure groups whether companies, counties, big tech, or others, that create cult-like followings that are creating huge divisions of people caught in their own echo chambers. The consequences are direct and can create chasms that will soon be too hard to manage. We need to expose the keyboard warriors that can twist the facts and destroy our future by being harbingers of doom.

Finally, what's the plan for the future of the Doc Edge festival to get it through to its next big anniversary?

The plan for Doc Edge is to be the Asia-Pacific documentary centre, to lead and support documentary making and content. We want to be more than a film festival, but an event that celebrates factual storytelling, inspire conversations and become an iconic taonga for our country and region. We want mainstream audiences to see documentaries are being as important and revered as feature documentaries. To increased audiences at Doc Edge so filmmakers feel the love from audiences but more importantly, be inspired toc continue to make important documentaries that are impactful.