DOCNZ: Documentary New Zealand Trust
The DOCNZ Trust was set up in 2004 as a not-for-profit organisation to manage the DOCNZ festival.
In 2003, as filmmakers, Dan Shanan and Alex Lee felt that New Zealand documentary filmmaking needed to nurtured and promoted. They felt that documentary filmmakers needed to have an advocate and the wider community would benefit from having a documentary film festival. New Zealand was lagging behind many global cities with successful documentary film festivals and New Zealand documentary filmmakers needed greater access to upskill themselves as well as resources and funding like their overseas counterparts.
Recognizing the explosion in audience numbers for documentary films and the world wide rise of documentary filmmaking, it became important to create a documentary film festival for the wider community to obtain greater access to the wide variety of documentaries genres. It was timely and appropriate for New Zealand to have its own documentary film festival which will also help to provide a home for New Zealand filmmakers to screen their films. Set up in 2004, DOCNZ is a non-profit organisation promoting documentary film-making and advocating opportunities for New Zealand documentary filmmakers. Its signature events are the DOCNZ International Documentary Film Festival and Summit. DOCNZ is a competitive international documentary film festival. It is a documentary advocacy body that seeks to establish local and overseas opportunities for local documentary filmmakers as well as to broaden up viewing opportunities for the local audiences. DOCNZ brings new business and filmic opportunities and great exposure to New Zealand and is committed to making DOCNZ festival and Summit the biggest such event in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2004, the inaugural DOCNZ Festival was held.
The Board expanded with Annie Goldson and Ewa Bigio joining bringing with them a wide range of skills and experiences in film-making, distribution and sales, festivals and business acumen. In 2007, Annie Goldson became the President of the Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand and with her new film productions and academic teaching work loads, became an Advisor instead of a Trustee.
Current Trustees are Dan Shanan, Alex Lee, and Ewa Bigio who also work collaboratively as Co-Directors of the Festival and Summit.
Dan Shanan
Born in Haifa, Israel, Dan Shanan settled in New Zealand in 2003. He founded Timeline Productions Limited, a film company making documentaries for broadcasters, festivals, and private and corporate client (www.timelineprods.com).
A short documentary Ma-kara at Makara, directed by Dan and Alex Lee, was screened at: the Warsaw International Jewish Film Festival (2004), the Jewish Film Festival in Jerusalem (2004), and DOCNZ 2005. The film covers the desecration of Jewish graves in Wellington and examines the reaction of the local Jewish community and the politicians’ response to it.
Dan produced and filmed a feature length documentary A Stage of Mind, about two stage actors as they play out on the theatre of life as they come to terms with growing old. It premiered in Israel at the 21st Haifa International Film Festival (2005) and at DOCFEST: Festival Di Palazzo Venezia in Rome, Italy (2006). The filmhas been picked up for world-wide distribution. Dan is now in production of a new feature length documentary, Musical Chairs (working title).
Dan lived for 8 years in the United States and has a Bachelor of Arts (Communication Studies) (Hons) from University of Missouri Kansas City and won the Alex and Josephine B. Coleman Communication Department Scholarship. In 1999, Dan moved to the Netherlands and enrolled at the University of Amsterdam to read a Masters in Film and Television.
Dan is also a Co-Founder, Director and Trustee of DOCNZ Trust with its critically acclaimed flagship DOCNZ International Documentary Film Festival. Recently, Dan was a guest of the German government at the Dok Leipzig festival (October 2006). He lives in Kohimarama with his long-time ‘man‘s best friend’ companion, Goldie.
Alex Lee
An Asian New Zealander, Alex practises commercial and entertainment law along side his film-making interests but always had a passion for the film and television industry. He was an actor/presenter including being a Writer/Presenter on The World Today, a prime time nightly English language current affairs programme screened on Asia TV in Hong Kong as well a radio producer and host. Merging his law skills and film-making passion, he produced and directed instructional videos for the Institute of Professional Legal Studies.
In 2002, he returned to do a Masters of Creative & Performing Arts (Film & TV Drama Directing) at the University of Auckland and graduated with First Class Honours in September 2004. He wrote and directed Wong Cha Cha, a Creative New Zealand supported short film, completed n February 2004. He has also been a line producer for overseas television and commercial productions. A short documentary Ma-kara at Makara directed by Alex and Dan was screened at the 2004 Warsaw International Jewish Film Festival, the 2004 Jewish Film Festival in Jerusalem, and DOCNZ 2005. He is the Producer of the independent low budget feature film The Last Magic Show which is now doing the international festival rounds and has been picked up Arkles Distribution Ltd. He is also the Executive Producer of Song of the Hunted, a low budget Middle Kingdom fantasy feature film due to release in 2008. Currently, he is working on post-production of a documentary feature Musical Chairs, which he is the Co-Producer and Director.
Alex set up Tsunami Actors & Talent Limited, a talent agency and Tamarillo Films Limited (previously Escapade Films Limited). He has also joined Timeline Productions Limited and Smiley International Documentary Film Distribution Limited as a Director.
In 2003, he founded and set up the Asia Film Festival Aotearoa, a Pan-Asian film festival with the inaugural festival held in February 2004 (www.anzfft.org.nz). As a Trustee for the Asia NZ Film Foundation Trust, he advocates Asian representation in the New Zealand film and TV industry. He is a National Executive Board Member of the Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand and teaches Production Management to the postgraduate film students at the University of Auckland.
Alex has recently co-founded the Oryza Foundation, an Asian performing arts foundation.
Alex is passionate about capturing our stories, story telling and film-making.
Ewa Bigio
Ewa Bigio is the Founding and Managing Director of Smiley Film Distribution and World Sales Ltd, a boutique sales agency representing award-winning documentaries from all corners of the world, including the 2007 79th Academy Award winner The Blood of Yingzhou District and the 2007 Peabody Awards winner Braindamadj’d. Smiley World Sales has a selective catalogue that focuses on social issues, politics and human interest stories. Representing the majority of the titles and filmmakers on an exclusive world-wide basis, Smiley’s acquisition policy is underpinned by Ewa’s belief in the potent power of cinema to instigate positive social change. Tackling a range of thorny issues including AIDS, sexual abuse, war and conflict, euthanasia and nuclear testing, Smiley’s portfolio of films has steadily garnered the admiration and interest of the marketplace for its consistency in quality as well as commitment to difficult subject matter.
A former lawyer and graduate of Auckland University Law School, Ewa’s varied business background encompasses real estate and the fine arts. Coming on board DOCNZ in its inaugural year Ewa was responsible for devising a marketing strategy which would build interest for the fledgling festival within the business sector. The festival is well supported by the local community and has forged successful partnerships with a variety of local businesses including property investment group, St Lawrence, advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi, local public broadcaster TVNZ and national accounting firm, Staples Rodway; partnerships which Ewa has been responsible for bringing together.
In 2006, Ewa helped launch and chaired the festival’s first major industry initiative, the DOCNZ Pitching Forum which was a launching pad for 12 local and international projects; a number of which have successfully obtained funding as a result. Utilising her industry connections, Ewa has been pivotal in building international interest in the Pitching Forum and Summit, encouraging a number of high level TV commissioners to participate both years running. The Forum, which is highly regarded, has been seen by local industry group, WIFT in its recent documentary summit as a catalyst for re-examining the local documentary funding landscape. Ewa was a guest of Holland Film last year to IDFA in Amsterdam and this February was invited to attend the AIDC as a buyer on the DOCUMart panel. Articles by Ewa have been published in the IDA magazine, Documentary.
She lives in Epsom with her husband, three children and pet Pekingese, Bruno.
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