Rich Hill Special Presentations This look at growing up poor in Middle America would make for an excellent double bill with this year’s (admittedly more successful) The Overnighters, but Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos’ Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner offers up a poignant and often bittersweet look at three underprivileged at risk teenage […]
Red Lines World Showcase In the fight to bring democracy and peace to war torn Syria, two activists from vastly different backgrounds have teamed up to amass a greater network of contacts and connections on the ground than any other humanitarian organization in the world. Razan Shalab al-Sham is a former socialite from old money […]
Pulp Nightvision One thing that made the Brit-pop explosion of the 90s brilliant was how every band had their own sound and image to match. There was Oasis with their balls-to-the wall Manchester working class swagger, Blur with their London educated art-rock, then there was the less easily defined Pulp, born in the unlikely town […]
The Overnighters Special Presentation Jesse Moss’ outstanding and arresting Sundance award winner has rightfully earned all of its comparisons to being a modern day Steinbeck story. This tale of one boom town in modern America bursting at the seams is proof that a new Great Depression is here whether some folks care to admit it […]
The Secret Trial 5 Canadian Spectrum An in depth look at an ongoing thirteen year nightmare for five Canadian families, The Secret Trial 5 examines the shadowy and highly unethical concept of detaining those suspected of having committed or potentially committing crimes to be held on “security certificates.” A remnant from the Cold War, these […]
Out of Mind, Out of Sight Canadian Spectrum There’s a lot to like about Canadian documentary Out of Mind, Out of Sight: a film about the inmates and staff of Brockville Mental Health Centre, a forensic-mental hospital in Ontario. Primarily orbiting a single primary subject – schizophrenic patient Michael Stewart – the film paints a […]
The Notorious Mr. Bout Special Presentations It’s not often that a character from a Nicolas Cage flick is the subject of documentary, but then there really is only one Viktor Bout. The man, legend, and loose subject of Lord of War was one of the most notorious arms dealers who ever lived. Co-directors Tony Gerber […]
Mugshot Next Is someone’s arrest record snapshot something that the whole world should see? How much should the public be allowed to know after someone’s arrest? Historically, what if mugshots are the only ways of identifying certain marginalized people who have fallen through the cracks that should be preserved? These are the questions being asked […]
Mateo Next Matthew Stoneman doesn’t look like much until you hear him sing. Riding his very unique gimmick of being “America’s First Gringo Mariachi Singer”, he puts in the hours to attain success and stardom. An ex-con who ended up falling in love with music, he saves every nickel that he has in order to […]
Joy of Man’s Desiring Canadian Spectrum Not a documentary in the strictest sense of the word, the latest film from consistently intriguing filmmaker Denis Côté asks if one can truly understand the depression, anxiety, and mindset of every day labourers without ever actually seeing their work? Can one understand a fiction without understanding the truth, […]
Kung Fu Elliot Canadian Spectrum The Slamdance award-winner Kung Fu Elliot slides into Hot Docs as a local Canadian favorite bringing along some hefty expectations. Thankfully, it delivers. From the logline, you’d expect the doc to be a north of the boarder spin on American Movie with a little amateur karate tossed in for added […]
Mad As Hell Next Mad As Hell profiles a charismatic media personality that doubles as a portrait of the current friction between traditional broadcast media and online video services, painted with the familiar colours of the American political landscape. Cenk Uyger, otherwise known as The Young Turk, dodges a career in law to start a […]
Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere Mystery, Myth, and Legend Easily one of the most unique movies screening at this year’s Hot Docs, Dave Janetta’s Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere initially presents itself as being about a murder mystery, but gradually transforms into a portrait of the community […]
Love & Engineering Love, Factually Atanas, a married Bulgarian engineer living in Finland, is convinced he can find a perfect mate via a computer hack. Working under the premise that love is something to be “hacked” he sets out with his engineer friends trying to help them find love. Throughout the entire process of their […]
Life After Death World Showcase A thoughtful and darkly comedic look at how the generosity of the religious can be taken advantage of, Life After Death goes to Kigali, Rwanda to look at one young man who might not be walking the righteous path he says he’s following. Kwasa, a young man in his 20s, […]
