Documentary Edge Festival 2010 - Awards

Awards From The Edge

Documentary Edge Festival 2010 is delighted to announce that Last Train Home (director Lixin Fan) scooped “Best International Feature Documentary” at last night’s award ceremony.

Fan’s sophisticated debut documentary captures the anguish and heartbreak of a family that are separated and are continuing to grow apart. This Intimate and candid film highlights the dramatic changes sweeping China and shows what the costs are for families that have to migrate to the city to financially survive. Stolen was also highly regarded amongst judges – earning a ‘Special Mention’ during the ceremony, which was held at the Ray Freedman Arts Centre in Epsom.

The International Best Director accolade was shared by both Yoav Shamir for Defamation, his controversial, deeply personal and witty look at the place of anti-Semitism in today’s society whereas Zhao Liang was recognized for Petition, a passionate piece which took twelve years to complete.

The Documentary Edge Festival expanded the “Local” category this year to further celebrate the passion and dedication of New Zealand filmmakers. Shirley Horrock was flush with awards for her chronicles of the New Dance Group in Dance of the Instant. It earned the “Best NZ Short Documentary”, “Best NZ Research” and “Best NZ Educational Documentary” awards in the New Zealand competition. The Unnatural History of the Kakapo also hit a home run scooping four awards– “Best NZ Feature Documentary”, “Best NZ Souind”, “Best NZ Cinematography” and “Best NZ Director”.

Gaylene Preston became the very first recipient of the “Outstanding Contribution to NZ Documentary Industry” award, as Documentary Edge recognized her work in the field of real-life story telling.

An award was also presented for the Best Pitch at the Documentary Edge Forum which was given to Welingtonian Simon Burgin for his project Bring It on Home.

Full winners from last night’s ceremony as below:
International Competition
Best Short Documentary - Winner: The Solitary Life of Cranes
Best Feature Documentary - Winner: Last Train Home. Special Mention: Stolen
Best Editing - Winner: Stolen
Best Cinematography - Winner: At the Edge of the World
Best Director - Winner: Yoav Shamir (Defamation) and Zhao Liang (Petition)

New Zealand Competition
Best Short Documentary - Winner: Dance of the Instant. Special Mention: Marching On
Best Feature Documentary - Winner: The Unnatural History of the Kakapo
Best Emerging NZ Filmmaker - Winner: Anna McKessar (Five Hours with Raja)
Best Director - Winner: Scott Mouat (The Unnatural History of the Kakapo)
Best Cinematography - Winner: The Unnatural History of the Kakapo
Screenrights Best NZ Educational Documentary - Winner: Dance of the Instant
Best Research - Winner: Dance of the Instant
Best Sound - Winner: The Unnatural History of the Kakapo
Best Editing - Winner: Liquid Stone: Unlocking Gaudi's Secrets

Outstanding Contribution to NZ Documentary Industry - Gaylene Preston

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