The 2020 Doc Edge festival "Life Unscripted" is online and nationwide in New Zealand from Friday 12 June until Sunday 5 July. This film festival offers international documentaries which explore themes including political integrity, public sector and private sector accountability, and the challenges of upholding truth in journalism.
Presentations with anti-corruption themes include:
This is not a movie, a well-structured representation of well-researched, factual information by foreign correspondent, Robert Fisk.
In an era of fake news, when journalists are dubbed “enemies of the people”, Fisk’s belief in accuracy has only hardened. Toughened by his experiences, Fisk insists on maintaining an emotional distance from what he witnesses, arguing that you can’t report on an event if you’re completely overcome by it.
How to Steal A Country highlights the far-reaching corruption involving Jacob Zuma, then President of South Africa, that was discovered by a group of investigative journalists. “It is the whistle-blowers who are the real, and largely unsung heroes”, according to the Director, Rehad Desai, and Co-Director, Mark Kaplan.
The film Influence investigates the rise and fall of Bell Pottinger, the public relations company which campaigned for Jacob Zuma. Using a blend of archival footage and interviews, filmmakers Diana Neille and Richard Poplak investigate how Lord Tim Bell and his associates developed methods and tools to interfere with democratic processes and foster fake news.
Winner of the Best Documentary award at the Cannes Film Festival, The Cordillera of Dreams was directed by Patricio Guzmán. He fled Chile after being threatened with execution during the rule of corrupt dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Video Librarian: “Recommended! A fitting capstone to the director’s elegy for Chile’s tortured past that restates the trilogy’s fundamental point: like the Andes, the nation survives, but people must remember their past.”
Further details are set out on the Doc Edge website.
