Your Guide to the Doc Edge Film Festival 2016

Doc Edge, New Zealand's premier international documentary festival returns to Auckland's Q Theatre from May 18 - 29, 2016 with a monster lineup of exemplary films that hold a mirror to our world and showcase little known facets of our lives and society. With most films making their debut appearance in NZ cinemas at the festival and many direct from film festivals around the world, Doc Edge 2016 offers their most impressive collection yet.

We've rounded up a selection of films concerned with vast spanning subjects from elite chefs, master musicians and unprofessional sports teams, to individuals and collectives pushing back and breaking barriers on identity, architecture and climate change. Tales of ordinary people rising up in the face of their conditions.

Sergio Hermann, Fucking Perfect

Wednesday 25 May, 6.30pm/Saturday 28 May, 12.15pm

The increasing pressure on Michelin-starred chefs and the extraordinarily high bar they set for themselves has been sadly well-documented in the press with recent tragedies involving some of the world's top chefs. Sergio Hermann, Fucking Perfect is a portrait of a 3 Michelin-star chef in transition, as he closes the restaurant which made him famous in order to spend more time with the people and relationships he has sacrificed to remain at the top - only to find new distractions and investments to challenge his ambitions.

Event: Head down to Scarecrow after the film, take in a coffee and a bite to eat at We Did It Our Way - stories from local chefs who have struck out alone in the restaurant trade. Saturday 28 May, 2pm at Scarecrow Gourmet Café.

Also check out: Monterey, a Grey Lynn restaurant faces changing tides and challenged loyalties after a young British chef joins the kitchen.

Song of Lahore 

Friday 27 May, 8.30pm/Sunday 29 May, 6.30pm

Once a great arts capital of the Middle East, the cultural identity of Lahore has been deconstructed by the Pakistani Taliban who have waged war on arts, film and music in the name of conservatism. Song of Lahore follows a group of Pakistani classical musicians invited to perform with the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra in New York City, after their quietly released album of experimental jazz fused with Southeast Asian instruments finds worldwide interest and acclaim. As the group prepare for this groundbreaking concert, they must also decide their role in reviving music's place in a deteriorating cultural climate.

Also check out: Nathan East: For The Record, with over 2000 recording credits to his name, Nathan East is one of the most influential musicians you don't know you already know.

The Pistol Shrimps

Friday 20 May, 8.30pm/Monday 23 May, 8.15pm

A classic rag-tag underdog story, The Pistol Shrimps is a Los Angeles social basketball team that spawned an entire women's recreational basketball league. After deciding some social basketball was in order and discovering that no opportunities existed for women, a group of LA comedians, actresses, musicians and writers took it upon themselves to make it happen in true DIY fashion. Podcasts, merchandise, halftime shows with the LA City Municipal Dance Squad and a host of multi-talented women with wise-cracking team names balling every Tuesday night.

Event: A Q&A with Director Brent Hodge follows both sessions.

Also check out: In The Game, follows a girls' soccer team at a majority underprivileged Chicago public school. The film raises the importance of mentorship and life skills in the face of an uneven playing field. Directed by Peabody award-winner Maria Finitzo.

How to Dance in Ohio

Monday 23 May, 4pm/Saturday 28 May, 11.45am

Produced by HBO, How to Dance in Ohio takes an inside look at the lives of young people living on the Autism spectrum as they spend twelve weeks preparing for the great American rite of passage – the Spring Formal. A daunting time for most teens, prom season presents unique challenges for Autistic teens as they negotiate paralysing and nerve-inducing social situations. Under the guidance of their trusted psychologist, three young women transitioning to adulthood invite us into their lives as they practice social skills, choose a dress and facilitate dates. The result is a gentle and moving understanding of the extra struggles their condition presents while navigating 'normal' life.

Event: Autism: New Understanding, a panel discussion on new ways of looking at the condition. Views from families, research from University of Auckland and insights from Minds for Minds, the international autism research project. Saturday 28 May, 1.30pm at Q Theatre Vault.

Also check out: Hello, I Am David!, the first documentary into the life of the exceptionally gifted pianist who inspired the Oscar winning film Shine.

Oriented

Thursday 26 May, 6.30pm/Sunday 29 May, 5.45pm

Three Palestinian friends find themselves at odds with their multi-faceted identities, which are even further complicated by sexual orientation. Each is already challenging societal expectations – Khader comes from a prominent Muslim family and currently lives with his Jewish boyfriend, Fadi is a passionate Palestinian nationalist falling for an Israeli 'Zionist', while Naim is on the cusp of revealing himself to his family. Determined to confront the space between personal truth and their national and cultural identities, they form 'Gambuta' – a resistance movement fighting for gender and national equality through non-violent activism.

Also check out: In the Chinese Closet, an intimate portrait of two people each attempting to eke out happiness with a sexual orientation at odds with their parent's wishes.

The Infinite Happiness

Sunday 22 May, 6.45pm/Sunday 28 May, 8.30pm

The 8 House, named for it's figure-eight shape is the biggest private development in Denmark. Also known as the Big House, the building stacks both residential housing and commercial premises to form a new kind of co-existing neighbourhood. The dynamic bow shaped structure allows for a ramped pedestrian street system and light–filled dwellings with a view, designed to foster a sense of community. The Infinite Happiness collects interconnecting personal stories, like a personal diary into the private life of the building. Bringing into question architecture's ability to shape collective happiness and new social models, is the 8 House a social experiment, or the future?

Also check out: The Tank Farm, an insight into the tight-knit community of Auckland freedom campers who don't fit into plans for the prime real estate they occupy.

This Changes Everything

Thursday 26 May, 8.15pm/Sunday 29 May, 4.30pm

Produced by a group of Hollywood heavy hitters and narrated by renowned Canadian social activist Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything focuses on the global truth that the societies most effected by climate change are those with the least responsibility for it's cause, and questions if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we'll ever get to build a better world. Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries over four years, the film aims to empower rather than frighten, as we witness portraits of communities on the front line and meet the people directly effected by climate change.

Event: Climate Change – But Can We Change?, an expert panel discussion on the challenges that confront us. Sunday 29 May, 3.30pm at Q Theatre Vault.

Also check out: Miners Shot Down, a poignant understanding of the response to the August 2012 massacre of striking South African platinum mine workers, as told through a collage of personal stories, police footage, TV material and interviews.

Shorts 2: On The Backs of Women

Thursday 19 May, 4pm/Saturday 21 May, 10.15am

Borderless filmmakers Dean Eastbrook and Dave Henderson present a window into the lives of three Burmese women, each showing entrepreneurialism in working their way out of poverty and isolation in rural Myanmar. Faced with their own challenging life circumstances and enabled by small loans granted by a local micro finance bank, the women use their commitment and drive to forge a better life for themselves. A vital reflection of the thousands of impoverished yet enterprising women around the world.

Event: A Q&A with Dave Henderson and Dean Easterbrook will follow the Thursday 19 May screening.

Also screening with the Shorts 2 lineup are:

Charred Brick: Like many Burmese children, Thet works all day to support his family, both around the home and at the local brickworks. At nights, he attends school with the dream of becoming an engineer.

Chau, Beyond The Lines: Chau, a teenager living in a Vietnamese care centre for children disabled by Agent Orange balances the reality of his dream to become a professional artist.

Shorts 4: Forever, Chinatown

Sunday 22 May, 10.30am/Tuesday 24 May, 4pm

Self-taught 82-year-old artist Frank Wong recreates the days of his San Franciscan Chinatown youth through beautifully constructed miniatures of the rooms he grew up in. The unknown artist's three-dimensional pieces are both a portal into the historic neighbourhood, which has now seen significant change and a commentary on the way we filter and romanticise our memories. In the ultimate compromise with immortality, Frank plans on being cremated with his model-sized works in order to find a way to 'live inside them' during the afterlife.

Event: A Q&A with Director Corey Tong will follow both screenings.

Also screens with Varciella, two young sisters selected from thousands to study at the prestigious Academy of Russian Ballet. Devoted to their six-hour daily training schedule, the film is a tender portrait of the relationship and dreams the sisters share.