Online content provider Quickflix has teamed up with the Documentary New Zealand Trust to bring ten Documentary Edge titles to your screens at home via pay-per-view. Most are from New Zealand, all from the Asia-Pacific region, and collectively they explore a range of subject matter – cultural, political, familial, educational and environmental. The full list of titles follows, visit Quickflix to start watching ’em.
13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
New Zealand documentary that takes a look inside the community of writers that make up Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters and Victoria University Press, gaining insights on the teaching of creative writing from esteemed veterans onto the newer generation of writers.
Dancing with Dictators
Details the battle of control over a newspaper chain in Burma. When Australian publisher Ross Dunkley, owner of The Myanmar Times, has a 51% partner forced onto him by the government, it leads to a nasty chain of events that finds Dunkley appearing and re-appearing in court.
Disappear in Light
New Zealand documentary following playwright and performer Jo Randerson, tracking the staggering journey to make a creative vision a reality as she builds towards her largest scale work yet: a black comedy about engaging with life and confronting death.
Four Geese in a Flock
New Zealand documentarian Luke Wheeler examines a unique Kiwi family over a period of three years, going from a fly-on-the-wall approach to having a developing relationship. As the family goes through various hardships, Wheeler’s more intimate filmmaking approach reveals greater insight about the community and neighbourhood they reside in.
High School
New Zealand documentary that takes a hard look at the nation’s secondary education system, going behind closed doors in Board of Trustees meetings as well as gaining an insight to the experience of life as a student.
Manila: No Limitations
Tony Piggott, a filmmaker and contemporary artist, documents his journey of cultural exchange between New Zealand and Manila, inviting a dozen other Kiwi artists and musicians to do the same. Three Kiwi bands attend a concert that has been put on to help raise money and aid relief in the recent Manila flooding. The list of Kiwi artists include Moses Robbins, Dan Lynch, Jed Parsons, Hera Hjartardottir, Lucy Matthews, Ben Campbell, David Farrier, Kris Wilson, Kurt Preston, Harry Knight and, of course, Tony Piggott himself.
Rev Therapy
New Zealand documentary following Jody Hooker and The Stunt Corp team, a professional stunt show group unafraid to send vehicles flying and set themselves on fire in service of entertainment.
Stand Up
One-hour New Zealand documentary exploring the business and culture of being a stand-up comedian in Aotearoa. Features Brendhan Lovegrove, Dai Henwood, Jan Marie, Jeremy Corbett and Te Radar.
The Hungry Tide
Australian documentary about the Pacific nation of Kiribati and a young native woman’s determination to inform the world that her country is slowing sinking into the sea.
View from Olympus
Documentary profile on John Psathas, one of New Zealand’s most performed composers, whose contemporary classical compositions have won worldwide recognition. A member of the NZ Order of Merit, Psathas composed music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympics.
