Doc Edge

The Doc Edge, formerly DOCNZ International Documentary Film Festival or simply DOCNZ Film Festival, and then Documentary Edge Festival, is New Zealand's Academy Award-qualifying international documentary film festival, run annually by the Documentary New Zealand Trust since 2005.

The first Documentary Edge Festival, previously known as DOCNZ International Documentary Film Festival, or simply DOCNZ Film Festival, was launched in 2005 in Auckland^[1] by the then Prime Minister, Helen Clark.^{[citation needed]}

The Festival was rebranded as Documentary Edge Festival in 2010,^[2] and has been branded Doc Edge since around 2016.^[1]

Traditionally held in May to June in Auckland and Wellington theatres, the festival chose to pivot during the coronavirus outbreak in 2020, taking the full festival online with a video-on-demand platform provided by Shift72,^[3] opening up to a nationwide audience for the first time and increasing the size of the programme.^[1]

Doc Edge is held annually, from April to June, in Auckland and Wellington.^[4] The Festival showcases documentary films from New Zealand and around the world,^[5] and includes awards, Q&A sessions with filmmakers, and other events.

The Documentary Edge Festival celebrates the best of documentary films by awarding artists in the following categories:^{[6][needs update]}

International selection:

• Best International Short Documentary
• Best International Feature Documentary
• Best International Director
• Best World Cinema
• Best Human Rights
• Best Generations
• Best Heroes and Incons
• Best Culture Vultures
• And two different spotlight categories every year

New Zealand selection:

• Best Feature Documentary
• Best Short Documentary
• Best Emerging Filmmaker
• Best Director
• Best Cinematography
• Best Editing