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Director Kathleen Mantel's investigative film The Green Chain won Best New Zealand Short at the Documentary Edge Festival this year after it's Auckland screening and is now playing at the Wellington leg of the festival.

We find out more about Kathleen and her work.

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?

Most inspired to work whenever it is quiet.  Most inspired to dream, at night.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?

Couldn’t say.  Possibly reserved.  Cheeky.  I have been called bolshy.

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?

Seeing the story emerge from its murky depths in the edit.

How does your environment affect your work?

Immensely.  I like a tidy quiet place to think and dream.  What it’s usually like is incredibly noisy and quite messy.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?

Both.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Find a rich man, woman or patron.  If that’s not going to happen, keep busy.  Say yes.  But don’t sell your soul.  

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?

I’ve loved doing them all.

Who or what has inspired you recently?

The Documentary Edge Film Festival.  Such wonderfully beautiful, sad, funny important stories.  

Tell us a bit about your background.

I left university and worked as a sound recordist for a year and then did a bit of camerawork, then was an editor, arts reporter for a moment, then started making short experimental documentaries in New York.  I loved blending peoples stories with pictures and moved into longer form documentaries. I have been making documentaries for 15 years now.

Tell us a bit about your documentary

The Green Chain is the incredible story of Joe Harawira and his 30 year fight for recognition that the sawmill workers he worked alongside had been exposed to dangerous chemicals in their work place and had suffered terrible health consequences because of it.  It’s the story of a man who didn’t give up despite the fact he had doctors and lawyers and men with letters after their names telling him he was wrong and what did he know he was just a Maori sawmill worker who didn’t even have school C.  

Why is documentary important?

Documentaries are important on so many levels.  They offer us a real insight into the real and often uncensored lives of others.  They give us an opportunity to see through other eyes into different worlds.  Documentaries open up new ways of seeing.  They bring people together.  

What do you think of the new documentary funding?

I think it is so exciting.  There are so many wonderful stories to tell.  

What else is needed to support documentaries in NZ?

I think we need to think a little bigger and a little smaller.  We should sometimes think about telling the small stories in a big way.  And telling the big, not necessarily local stories, in our own distinctive way.  I think there are too many same same documentaries.  We should be embracing the auteur no matter what the subject matter.  We should aim high and shout loud.  Other people are interested in our stories.  The Documentary Edge Festival is a treasure.  We should all be supporting it.

Tell us about your other upcoming projects.

I am making two documentaries at the moment.  One is in production and the other is in the editing phase.  Both were shot locally in Hawkes Bay.  

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?

Ikebana.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?

Waikapai.  Orongorongo valley.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?

On a stool at the Kings Arms.   Why?  Because I live in a small town in the country at the moment which is absolutely idyllic, but I miss live music.

What’s great about the Documentary Edge Festival and Forum?

Everything!  These stories are gems.  The houses should be packed.  During every film people are laughing and crying and thinking.  The festival is gold.  The forum also is a treasure.  It’s very much a learning platform, but as a solitary documentary maker, it was great to meet others who are also passionate about telling stories, and become inspired all over again.

What’s your big idea for 2013?

My big idea is to make and complete two great documentaries and to be funded to begin the journey of another.

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• The Big Idea is proud to be a Media Partner for Documentary Edge Festival 2013.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 New Zealand License.