The Joe Show World Showcase Joe Arpaio is a pretty horrible person, but he’s also a famous person so he gets away with a lot. The self-appointed toughest sheriff of America turned a job in public office into a vehicle for superstardom. In the early 2000s, he started pulling ridiculous stunts like forcing prisoners to […]
I’ve Seen the Unicorn Canadian Spectrum In Mauritius, an island remnant of the UK colonies, there are three things in life that matter: beaches, fishing, and horse racing. Young Alvinio dreams of becoming a champion jockey in a country where long after the former regime left power horse racing remained the primary socially unifying point […]
The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz Special Presentation/Opening Night Gala/Scotiabank Big Ideas A major disappointment not only for the opening night film, but also for filmmaker Brian Knappenberger, whose previous We Are Legion was one of the festival’s biggest surprises a couple of years ago. Knappenberger returns to chronicling internet culture with […]
The Immortalists World Showcase The Immortalists follows Aubrey de Grey and Bill Andrews, two very different biologists who share the same goal: reversing the aging process. While their common objective does cause their paths to intersect from time to time, they’re not on the same journey. As a result, the film lacks focus, delving into […]
I am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story Special Presentation/Scotiabank Big Ideas Series One of the most emotionally effective performing arts docs that’s ever been made finds former Hot Docs volunteers turned filmmakers Chad Walker and Dave LaMattina looking at the kind, loving, and sometimes tragically depressed man in the full body suit of one […]
Hotline World Showcase Hotline is an emotionally charged and often funny window into the lives of the voices on the other end of the phone line. Filled with interesting people it dodges the pitfall of becoming overly voyeuristic. The few times that actual phone recordings of hotline clients are used, they fit well thematically and […]
The Homestretch World Showcase One of the best films to ever be made about the stigma of homelessness, Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly’s transcendent, thoroughly objective, look at three Chicago teens forced to grow up too fast is heartbreaking and inspiring in equal measure without manipulation of the audience. It belongs to be talked […]
Harmontown Nightvision/Special Events Community creator Dan Harmon is one of those dangerous talents that mama always warned you about. He’s clearly a funny man and maybe even a bit of a genius. However, he’s also incredibly self-destructive in ways that doesn’t exactly define a good person. If you heard about his public scruff up with […]
Guidelines Canadian Spectrum Jean-François Caissy spends time with some of the troublemakers at a rural Quebec high school over the course of a full calendar year in this strictly observational look at largely at risk kids in a community with precious little to do outside of smoking dope, doing burnouts on wooden bridges, and attempting […]
Giuseppe Makes a Movie Nightvision Regardless of what one might think of actor and filmmaker Giuseppe Andrews’ low-fi experimental comedic oddities or his prowess as a serious artist, there’s no denying that the art he’s making is incredibly honest and deeply humane and empathetic. Director Adam Rifkin (who met Giuseppe while making Detroit Rock City) […]
An Honest Liar World Showcase James “The Amazing” Randi is an 85-year-old magician who has been at the forefront of a movement to debunk frauds and phonies for decades. After dedicating his life to the magical arts from a very early age, Randi became a sensation mainly due to his impeccable skills as an escape […]
The Engineer International Spectrum Israel Ticas, the only criminologist in the country of El Salvador, is charged with excavating abandoned wells that are used as mass graves by the two biggest gangs in the country. Despite a supposed truce, people keep disappearing and he keeps finding bodies. He’s a lonely man trying to be the […]
Focus on Infinity World Showcase Focus on Infinity asks a lot of its audience. It’s a documentary about the science of space composed exclusively of earthly footage and it offers nothing in terms of scientific discovery or revelation. Between the biblical musings of a former physicist and declarations of craving the unknowable are symbols and […]
A Dress Rehearsal for an Execution Canadian Spectrum In the entire time the Pulitzer Prize for journalism has existed, there’s only been one anonymous winner: Jahangir Razmi who only identified himself over 30 years after shooting an execution via death squad in Iran. As an artistic experiment, director Bahman Tavoosi and Ramzi set out to […]
Doc of the Dead Nightvision Let’s face it, the walking (un)dead are everywhere these days, from Brad Pitt blockbusters and cuddly slippers to porn parodies and shooting ranges. The smelly masses of corpses have never been more popular, so a documentary like Doc of the Dead was inevitable. This is the definitive documentary guide to […]
