Screen professional events
A 3-day professional marketplace and conference of the Doc Edge Festival.
New Zealand’s Documentary Forum, Pitch & Market
29 June – 1 July 2026 | Grand Millennium Auckland
Beyond the Algorithm
Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua — Walking backwards into the future with our eyes fixed on the past.
Doc Edge Industry is New Zealand’s premier professional event for the documentary screen sector, held at the heart of the Doc Edge Festival.
Why Attend?
At Doc Edge Industry you can:
- Learn from leading international documentary storytellers
- Present projects and receive industry feedback
- Meet broadcasters, funders and collaborators
- Discover new documentary projects in development
- Connect with the New Zealand and international documentary community.
The documentary and screen sector is navigating a period of profound transformation. Audience behaviours are evolving rapidly, funding pressures are intensifying, and new technologies are reshaping storytelling, visibility, and engagement itself. At the same time, filmmakers, festivals, broadcasters, and arts organisations are increasingly operating within ecosystems shaped by algorithms, accelerated media cycles, audience fragmentation, and shifting institutional pressures.
Doc Edge Industry 2026 adopts the theme Beyond the Algorithm — a call to critically examine the forces shaping contemporary screen culture while reaffirming the importance of courageous storytelling, creative independence, human connection, and authentic voices in an increasingly mediated world.
Grounded in more than 20 years of documentary leadership, Doc Edge Industry continues to champion documentary as an artform, journalistic practice, creative force, and catalyst for conversation and change.
Passes
Who Should Attend?
Doc Edge Industry is designed for:
- Documentary filmmakers
- Producers and production companies
- Broadcasters and streamers
- Sales agents and distributors
- Festival programmers
- Film students and emerging storytellers
- Screen industry professionals.
To keep it simple this year, we offer a 3-day pass which include:
- Full access to the 3-day event
- Talks, pitching, panels and masterclasses
- Daily lunch with morning/afternoon tea
- Networking opportunities
- Discounted tickets to the Doc Edge Awards and Festival screenings.
Below are the three types of passes available:
Industry Pass / $299 (Most popular)
* For members of participating industry organisations including APA, DEGANZ, SPADA, WIFT NZ, Ngā Aho Whakaari, NZCS, NZWG, PASC, PISA and others.
General Pass / $349
* For professionals attending independently.
Student Pass / $149
* For holders of a valid NZ tertiary student ID.
Pitch
We are delighted to announce the selected projects for the Doc Edge Industry Pitch 2026. Chosen from a highly competitive field, these projects represent some of the most exciting documentary work in development and production from Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world.
The selected filmmakers will present their projects to funders, broadcasters, and industry experts.
Almost the End of the World / Belle Gwilliam, Shu Run Yap
Beyond the Map / Zoë McIntosh, Kylie Cushman
Layers of Black / Paula Jones, Enjalas Jenkinson
Matinee Idle / Anna Cottrell, Roxane Gajadhar
Soul Places / Mark Lapwood
The Eternal City / John Ross, Sasa Hsiao
The Fixer / Tuki Laumea, Cleo Fraser, Dorothy Wickham
The Plastic Pickers of Paradise / Caleb Young, Siobhan Nicol Young, Drue Slatter
** The Best New Zealand Pitch will receive the Park Road Post Award — $10,000 in-kind post-production support. Additional awards will be announced soon.
Blue-Collars from the Frontline / Bangladesh / Citto Aanondi, Rupom Roy Rup
How Sweet Does the Honey Taste? / India, France / Akshat Nauriyal, Jérémie Palanque
Prabha / India, South Korea / Vinita Negi
Saving Tuvalu / Tuvalu, Australia, Germany / Chris Kamen
Seahorse School / Australia / Rebecca Barry
The Skater Girl / China / Lili Chen, Jing Guo
Whispers of the Desert Wind / India / Nandan Saxena, Kavita Bahl
Before the Feast / India / Rajani Mani
Madam, See U Tomorrow / China / Chouwa Liang, Andy Huang
Super Old — Getting Stronger with Age / Japan / Sanae Abe, Tommaso Barbetta
Tzusy: First Person Plural / Taiwan, United Kingdom, Australia / Wei-Hsin Yang, Grace Hsin-Jui Lin
Up to the Buffalo / Thailand / Sopawan Boonnimitra, Peerachai Kerdsint
Vanishing Freedom / Taiwan / Ariel Tu, Diana Chiawen Lee
Your Enemy, My Lover / China, Taiwan, Northern Mariana Islands, Hong Kong / Ho Yan Lam
Almost Home / South Korea / Hongjia Yang, Gary Byungseok Kam, Kyungsoo Han, Zeyu Wang
Touch the Colour / Philippines / Baby Ruth Villarama, Chuck Gutierrez