Student Short Documentary Competition
2024 competition final entry deadline is 22 January 2024
Since 2019, our Student Short Documentary Competition has allowed us to celebrate and showcase the amazing talents of aspiring young filmmakers.
The Silent Alps
2021 tertiary winners Josh Robertson & Ryan Stafford
“Winning at Doc Edge 2021 Festival was an incredible experience for me personally and my wider career, opening various doors that would have otherwise been closed. Getting recognised for our work gave me a real passion for Documentary Filmmaking that wasn’t ignited in me beforehand. I still carry this passion with me today throughout all my work. The Doc Edge award on my CV I have no doubt helped me land some of my work roles. Personally, I have been working on a few passion projects that I plan to enter to upcoming Doc Edge festivals!” – Josh Robertson.
“My time at Doc Edge was an incredible start for my film career as I never expected we would be recognised by our filmmaking peers so early on in our journey. I’m currently a Creative Producer at Sky New Zealand, producing promotional campaigns from large-scale blockbusters to up-and-coming Kiwi content. Highlighting local content is always a personal priority due in part to how welcoming Doc Edge was to both Josh and I. It felt incredibly special for Doc Edge to share and recognise our film, so the least I can do is pay it forward to other local filmmakers by pushing their content as much as possible. We were welcomed so openly by Doc Edge and look forward to returning to the festival.” – Ryan Stafford.
Categories
There are two categories for competition.
- Secondary (New Zealand students in Years 9-13). A documentary film of up to 7 minutes in duration.
- Tertiary (New Zealand students enrolled in tertiary study). A documentary film of up to 17 minutes in duration.
If you believe you have the talent and passion to participate in our short film festival, we invite you to submit your film.
Previous Winners
SECONDARY SCHOOL
Self Portrait (Dir. Connor Lynd, Rotorua Lakes High School)
TERTIARY
A Love Letter to the Estranged (Dir. Va’a Magalogo, AUT)
SECONDARY SCHOOL
Krista Woodward & Maja Skilling, Director/Producer | Mount Roskill Grammar School | Out of the Labs
TERTIARY
Monica Cordero, Dayoon Song, Helena Halliday, Directors/Producers | Massey University | Our Aotearoa
TERTIARY SCHOOL SPECIAL MENTIONS
Joseph Gordon, Director/Producer | Victoria University of Wellington | So Be It
Mahaki Tipene, Director/Producer | Yoobee South Seas Film School | Uhi Wero
SECONDARY SCHOOL
Joshua August, Director/Producer | Kings College | School Pride
SECONDARY SCHOOL SPECIAL MENTIONS
Bruce Chen & Yusef Elnahas, Director/Producer | Christ’s College | The Path to Equality
Krista Woodward & Maja Skilling, Director/Producer | Mount Roskill Grammar School | Glass Walls
TERTIARY
Ryan Stafford & Josh Robertson, Director/Producer | NZ Broadcasting School | The Silent Alps
TERTIARY SCHOOL SPECIAL MENTIONS
Valeriya Golovina & Niamh Swannack, Director/Producer | Victoria University of Wellington | Mawhialeo Ote Alowha/Our love
Celeste Fontein & Alex McShane , Director/Producer | Victoria University of Wellington | Maranui
SECONDARY SCHOOL
Sedona Milich, Director/Producer | Mount Roskill Grammar School | Mirimiri
SECONDARY SCHOOL SPECIAL MENTIONS
Egor Belykh, Director/Producer | Kings College | Rarepenguin
Sky Gobbi, Director/Producer | Wellington High School | Wellington High School Underwater Hockey
TERTIARY
Kate Gordon, Director/Producer | South Seas Film and Television School | Hurting To Heal
TERTIARY SPECIAL MENTIONS
Veronica Maitre, Director/Producer | South Seas Film and Television School | Becoming Masina
Samylle Anjos, Director/Producer | South Seas Film and Television School | Out There
SECONDARY SCHOOL
Honor Williams, Director/Producer | Kings College | Children Raising Children
TERTIARY
Eileen Lee, Director/Producer | South Seas Film and Television School | The Rocky Bay Store
