Ten Best Films at The Documentary Edge Festival 2013

For those of you feeling a little bereft of cultural events since our much publicised theatre festivals left town, no need to worry. With more films than you can shake a stick at The Documentary Edge Festival provides a comprehensive selection of documentaries from around the world. Many explore serious political issues but there is also plenty of music, culture, sport and humour on offer.

1. How to Survive a Plague

In this 2013 Oscar-nominated documentary, director David France tells an astonishing story about AIDS survival. Most people know that substantial gains have been made in the treatment of the HIV virus in recent years but how many are aware how this came about? Activists, many HIV-positive themselves,  defied government agencies, infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new HIV treatments. In doing so they turned AIDS from a death sentence into a much more manageable disease.

With never-before-seen archival footage of the 80’s and 90’s and present-day interviews, this film is a powerful and inspiring story of tenacity and social action. This is how you change the world.

*This film is screening Sunday April 14 at 5:45pm, Thursday April 18 at 3:45pm and Sunday April 21 at 3:15pm at Q Theatre.

2. The Island President

Filmmaker Jon Shenk's documentary about a small nations’ struggle against climate change was the winner of the Toronto International Festival People's Choice Award 2012. As one of the most low-lying countries in the world, a rise of even three feet in sea level would submerge the almost 2000 islands which make up the Maldives.

The film captures former President Mohamed Nasheed’s first year of office as he campaigns to save his nation and the people who live there from becoming environmental refugees. The charismatic Nasheed speaks his mind with a frankness rare among politicians. Combining stunning cinematography of the Maldives with one man’s passion, The Island President is a fascinating take on this pressing environmental issue.

This film is screening Wednesday April 10 at 8pm and Saturday April 20 at 1pm at Q Theatre.

3. Unraveled - The 75 Million Dollar Thief

Unraveled explores the age old moral question; if you thought you could commit a crime and get away with it, would you? Marc Dreier, a prominent Manhattan attorney, was arrested for attempting to do just that. He orchestrated a massive fraud scheme that netted over 750 million dollars in hedge funds.

The documentary takes place at Dreier’s home where he is under house arrest until his sentencing day. Filmaker Marc H. Simon weaves candid first person interviews and archival footage to unveil Dreier’s reckless path to destruction. With unprecedented access to a whitecollar criminal mastermind, this is a engaging tale of ambition gone terribly wrong.

This film is screening Thursday April 11 at 9pm, Saturday April 13 at 11:15am and Saturday April 20 at 3:15pm at Q Theatre.

4. Muscle Shoals

Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals is a small town with a big sound. Huge musical acts flocked there as word spread about the electrifying musical chemistry occurring in this place.

At the heart of the documentary is the fascinating story of Rick Hall, who founded the renowned FAME Studios in the late 1950s. Against the odds, he brought black and white together in Alabama to create music for the generations. With archival, behind-the-scenes footage and first-hand accounts from musicians such as Aretha Franklin, Bono, Mick Jagger, Gregg Allman, Jimmy Cliff, Alicia Keys and Keith Richards, Muscle Shoals is a must see for any music lover — as Keith Richards says: “You’re in rock and roll heaven.”

This film is screening Sunday April 21 at 8pm at Q Theatre.

5. The Iran Job

In 2008 at the height of the tension between America and Iran, American basketball player Kevin Sheppard accepted an offer to play in the Iranian Basketball Super League. The documentary about his experience is a streetwise look at the country's political realities. The charismatic Sheppard, who makes friends wherever he goes, forms an unlikely alliance with three outspoken Iranian women.

In the safety of his apartment the women air their frustrations, discussing everything from politics to religion to gender roles. But this is also a basketball movie, amidst the political situation director Till Schauder spends a lot of time following the ups and downs of the team. The Iran Job is an intriguing documentary that is as sad as it is uplifting.

This film is screening Friday April 12 at 7pm and Wednesday April 17 at 4pm at Q Theatre.

6. Trashed

Actor Jeremy Irons stands on a beach beside the Lebanese city of Sidon. Above him towers a mound of medical waste, household trash, toxic fluids and dead animals. This is the result of thirty years of consumption by just one small city. How many similar mountains of rubbish are there in the world?

Trashed uncovers the extent of damage the global waste problem has incurred on the planet. Irons, assisted by a scientist or two, is an inspired guide for this investigation which strives to evoke awareness of the issues so that collectively, solutions can be created.

This film is screening Sunday April 14 at 6:45pm and Friday 19 at 1:15pm at Q Theatre.

7. Reportero

Investigative journalism is a life-threatening profession in Mexico, where since January 2007, 42 journalists have been murdered. Reportero follows veteran reporter Sergio Haro and his colleagues at ZETA, a Mexican political weekly, as they courageously put their lives on the line in order to continue reporting the truth.

For 25 years, ZETA has exposed the activities of crooked politicians and organized crime officials. Haro is passionate about pursuing what he calls the “deeper story” of the crime-addled region: the human stories and experiences that often fall between the cracks of reporting.

This film is screening Saturday April 13 at 3:15pm and Wednesday 17 at 2:15pm at Q Theatre.

8. I Am Eleven

This heart-warming documentary follows a series of diverse characters who all have one thing in common. From suburban life in America to bathing with elephants in Thailand, I Am Eleven takes the audience around the globe in a life-affirming account of what it's like to be eleven today.

These young people from fifteen different countries and cultures share their thoughts on issues such as love, terrorism, culture, family, happiness, religion and the future. They do so with remarkable humour, honesty and wisdom.

This film is screening Thursday April 11 at 12:30pm, Tuesday April 16 at 12:15pm and Saturday 20 at 5:10pm at Q Theatre.

9. I Am Breathing

Within the space of a year, 33-year-old Neil Platt goes from being a healthy young father to being paralysed from the neck down. He has only months to live due to the rapidly degenerative condition “Motor Neuron Disease” (MND). Left to ponder the last moments of his life, Neil lreflects on his life and tries to think of an appropriate way of saying goodbye to his one-year-old son Oscar.

Using voice recognition software he makes candid observations and faces MND with incredible humour and honesty. A film which is as personal as it is universal.

This film is screening Saturday April 13 at 3:15pm and Wednesday 17 at 2:15pm at Q Theatre.

10. Finding Mercy

At the age of eight, New Zealand filmmaker Robyn Paterson was full of anticipation as she stood on the runway of a Zimbabwean air force with her best friend Mercy. They were there to meet their hero Comrade Robert Mugabe. With Robyn pale-skinned and Mercy dark, they were the poster children meant to represent the new, reformed Zimbabwe. But even then, Mercy’s Matabele tribe was being massacred by Mugabe’s special forces.

Paterson’s family left for a new life in New Zealand while Mercy’s was moved to a shanty town. But she never forgot her best friend. Two decades on, she returns to Zimbabwe on a high-risk search for Mercy, not knowing what she would find or whether authorities would buy her cover story of being a tourist coming home to see her boyfriend.

This film is screening Saturday April 13 at 3:30pm and Tuesday April 16 at 2:15pm at Q Theatre.

* Header image is a still from How to Survive a Plague.