Students at Newlands Intermediate had the opportunity to watch incredible documentaries as part of the DocEdge Film Festival.

On Friday the 25th of June, my class watched two documentaries. Their names were High Tide, Don’t Hide, and Ngā Wai e Rua! Stories of us. We had a really fun day watching these interesting documentaries, which were connected to our topic of focus this term. Some of these themes were: Science as Activism, Climate Change, Aotearoa’s History, and Snapshots in time.

High Tide, Don’t Hide was about the group of teenagers who led the 3 climate change strikes we had in 2019. It took us through them in detail, and we saw the reasons why they were so motivated. It was especially moving seeing all the emotions of some Samoan students, because the rising sea levels are threatening their home islands.

Ngā Wai e Rua! Stories of Us, showed archival footage of Aotearoa. It was great seeing the clothes people wore and how New Zealand looked back then! All the information about how Māori people lived at this time was fascinating as well. I thoroughly enjoyed watching both documentaries and learned a lot of things.