Celebrating 20 Years of Doc Edge Festival: Honouring the Best in Documentary Filmmaking Since 2005.

As one of the most prestigious documentary film festivals worldwide, we invite talented filmmakers, storytellers, and documentary enthusiasts from around the globe to showcase their works.

Doc Edge is the leading Asia Pacific hub for all things documentary, celebrating, supporting, and showcasing documentaries. As an Academy Awards® qualifying festival for feature and short documentaries, held annually across New Zealand, we strive to select world and international premieres eligible for Academy Awards® contention.

The festival is committed to curating a selection of the highest-quality films that demonstrate excellence in storytelling, celebrate diversity, and inspire social change. We take pride in being one of the leading film festivals in the Pacific and are particularly interested in supporting filmmakers with Pacific content and subjects.

In 2025, the festival will be a hybrid event, with screenings in cinemas and online. It will include the following exciting components:

• Doc Edge Awards: Celebrates excellence and achievement in documentary filmmaking, with winners receiving Oscar® consideration, as well as cash and in-kind prizes.

• Doc Edge Immersive Exhibition: Showcases digital interactive storytelling projects featuring top international and local virtual/augmented reality installations.

• Doc Edge Schools: An educational programme connecting students from Year 5 to Tertiary with curated documentary films through in-person screenings and a year-round online platform, Virtual Classroom. It also includes a New Zealand Student Short Documentary Competition to celebrate young filmmakers' talents.

• Doc Edge Industry: Provides learning and connecting opportunities for media professionals, comprising three main elements: Forum, Pitch, and Market.
- Forum fosters networking and career development for storytellers.
- Pitch allows filmmakers to present their projects to industry experts.
- Market facilitates connections between New Zealand films and potential buyers.

For the latest information and updates, please visit our website and sign up for News and Events. We look forward to receiving your documentary submissions for Doc Edge Festival 2025.

Submissions are open on FilmFreeway until 26 January 2025 in the following categories:

• International Feature Documentary
• International Short Documentary
• International Immersive Project
• New Zealand Feature Documentary
• New Zealand Short Documentary
• New Zealand Immersive Project
• New Zealand Secondary Student Documentary 
• New Zealand Tertiary Student Documentary

Submission Deadlines

Early Bird: 15 Sept 2024

Regular: 22 Dec 2024

Late: 19 Jan 2025

Extended: 26 Jan 2025

Submit on FilmFreeway