Doc Fest 2013: International Documentary Super-Hero Honoured

Media Release –4th March 2013
For Immediate Release

The Documentary New Zealand Trust presents
The Documentary Edge International Festival 2013.

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY SUPER-HERO HONOURED AT DOC FEST 2013!

Called a “High Priestess of Documentary” (IndieWire) and arguably the world’s most passionate and influential documentary voice, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) Founder and Director Ally Derks will attend the Documentary Edge International Festival 2013 – making a keynote speech at the Screen Edge Forum and receive the inaugural 2013 Documentary Edge International Super-Hero at the annual awards ceremony!

The Festival “recognizes” an individual has made a significant and essential contribution to documentary industry internationally.” As Derks has been a champion of documentary, fighting for its existence and passionately nurturing its growth, she is a natural choice for this award.

In 1988, with a little help from her friends and the Netherlands Film Institute, Derks launched IDFA. 25 years later, IDFA has grown from an institution organizing an annual international film festival into a platform and a centre for documentary that is unparalleled anywhere in the world.

In 1991, Derks also started the first Forum for the international co-financing of documentaries. From the very beginning this pitching forum, held during IDFA and supported by the European Media Programme, has been a huge success. Derks also serves as Director for the Jan Vrijman Fund initiative, which hands 20 grants to projects each year.

Derks has served on several film festival juries and has won several awards for her contribution to the documentary field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award at DocAviv in Tel Aviv (2007), the IJ Prijs by the city of Amsterdam and PricewaterhouseCoopers (2008), the Dog Mogul Award at HOT DOCS in Toronto (2011) and the Frans Bannick Cocq Medal for services to arts and culture in the city of Amsterdam in 2012.

“We want to honour Ally for her enduring legacy as well as to introduce her to great New Zealand films and filmmakers” says Alex Lee, director of Documentary Edge. “She is the highest international documentary figure to ever visit New Zealand and a profound influence on our festival.”

The awards ceremony takes place on 18 April.

The Documentary Edge International Film Festival 2013 runs:
Auckland – 10th – 21st April, Q Theatre, Queen Street
Wellington – 8th – 19th May, Reading Cinemas Courtney and The Film Archive

FULL PROGRAMME TO BE ANNOUNCED MARCH 4th.

The Screen Edge Forum 2013 will be held 18-19 April at Auckland University of Technology.

For more information and to keep up to speed with the latest news regarding the 2013 season, visit.
www.documentaryedge.org.nz.

ENDS

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