Age is just a number.

Some people are fortunate enough to live long and healthy lives and few rarely get to tell their story. Whether they are a retired sex therapist, a drummer from a girl band, a Peruvian doctor, or an Austrian refugee, 100UP is a sweet film that follows several centenarians that give us a brief but memorable moment in their lives.

There are a dozen people who have been around since the early 20th century in New York, Peru and Europe who are followed in their day to day routines as they go about their lives. No special tricks about how to live longer or to hold on to your mental faculties, but just a few anecdotes about what lead them to where they are. There is a certain charm to all those being interviewed that makes everything they say riveting and inthralling.

Director Heddy Honigmann gives us a tender look and allows the audience to follow in the lives of several 100 year old plus people and gives us a glimpse into what makes them unique. A recurring theme is loneliness and how sometimes being the last one standing isn’t all its cracked up to be. But being surrounded by family makes things better. Curiosity keeps them motivated to stick around and see what’s going to happen next.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Doc Edge Festival 2021 will screen the Australasia premiere of 100UP in Auckland on June 13 and Wellington on June 27. The documentary is available online from June 28 – July 11. Tickets and more information are available HERE

(Before the Auckland screening of 100UP, musicians will play in the theatre from 9:45am.)

Doc Edge Festival 2021 Review – 100UP

Reviewed online (screener provided by publicist), May 26, 2021. Rating: TBC. Running time: 93 min.

PRODUCTION: A Dutch Mountain Film, Savage Film, Tenk.tv production. Producers: Wilant Boekelman, René Huybrechtse, Rogier Kramer.

CREW: Director/writer: Heddy Honigmann. Cinematography: Adri Schrover. Editing: Jessica de Koning. Music: Michelino Bisceglia.

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