Documentary festival has something for everyone

Devotees of documentary film-making are spoiled for choice these days. The documentary strand at the major midwinter festivals has gone from strength to strength in the last decade - there were 50 docos in the last festival.

Encouraged by the enthusiasm of audiences, enterprising exhibitors have brought the best of the docos back on general release so that at any given time, there's likely to be a non-fiction film on offer at one of the arthouse cinemas.

That's just as well, since, with a few honourable exceptions, the genuinely interesting documentary, particularly from overseas, is virtually unknown on the small screen.

Instead, the networks chase ratings with dubiously themed shows that are often hard to distinguish from reality television.

To give credit where credit's due, it's fair to remember some excellent local work - the Work of Art series springs to mind, though, thanks for that - probably belongs to the charter and an activist attitude at the funding body, New Zealand On Air.

The appetite for documentary is enough to sustain a festival lasting a fortnight: hence DOCNZ 2005, which begins at Auckland's Academy Cinema on Thursday before moving to Wellington.

It's a packed programme: 130 films, including shorts, chosen from 230 submissions, and 30 New Zealand documentaries will compete for three cash prizes donated by finance and investment company St Laurence.

Advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi has also pitched in with a witty series of TV commercials that are showing on Sky's National Geographic and Arts channels.

The level of marketing and sponsorship panache is a credit to the not-for-profit trust that has organised the festival, the first in Australasia. But the programme invites the suggestion that bigger is not always better.

Almost a dozen of the docos have been shown in previous festivals and/or on television. That is understandable, particularly in the case of the local films, since the festival wants to recognise them with its awards and improve its profile into the bargain.

But some of the selections are suspect. Press Pass To The World, which was shown to media at the festival launch, was a pretty banal look at the world of the foreign correspondent.

The Guardian is only one of several newspapers to have questioned the dubious Voices of Iraq, the film made by 150 Iraqis who were given digital video cameras. It was, the newspaper says, part-funded by the United States State Department; the publicity was done by the US Army's PR firm; and - surprise! - it depicts Iraqis as overwhelmingly supportive of the US invasion and laughing off the indignities to prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

But there is something for everyone in this line-up. Oscar nominee Twist of Faith, about sex abuse in the Catholic church; Seoul Train, about the smuggling of North Korean refugees out of China; Street Fight, a well-regarded film about a dirty tricks mayoral contest in New Jersey; and The Debt, an examination of the collapse of the Argentinian economy. And the opening night film, Heroes of Gallipoli, is made from footage shot by a soldier in the disastrous campaign and restored by Weta Digital.

The festival's dark horse is definitely Dark Horse, an inspiring and energetic film that is also a fascinating study of an exceptional man.

What: DOCNZ 2005
Where and When: Academy Cinema, Auckland, Sep 15-28; Paramount Cinema, Wellington, Sep 29-Oct 5.