Latest News
Eight Official Delegations Confirmed for Hot Docs
Eight official delegations have been confirmed for Hot Docs 2010. Official delegations from Abu Dhabi, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Nordic Region, the UK and USA will attend this year's festival, conference and market and take part in International Co-Production Day, a day-long gathering of Canadian and international producers that features networking opportunities and special presentations with the ultimate goal of facilitating new co-production opportunities among attending delegates.
Posted: Tue, March 09, 2010 - 7:29:02
Hot Docs Co-presents at Canadian Music Week Film Festival
Hot Docs co-presents two docs on Saturday, March 13 at this year's Canadian Music Week Film Festival. The directorial debut of Super Furry Animals front man Gruff Rhys (with co-director Dyl Jones), SEPERADO! tours the Welsh communities of South America in search of Rhys' distant cousin, offering an engrossing look at unique towns and villages along the way. SEPERADO! receives its international premiere at 1:00 pm at the Royal Cinema. Narrated by Johnny Depp, WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE (D: Tom DiCillo) is an intimate look into the life and career of The Doors, with new interviews, vintage newsreels and hundreds of hours of rare, personal footage. WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE receives its Canadian premiere at 7:00 pm at the Royal Cinema.
Posted: Mon, March 08, 2010 - 5:06:06
Hot Docs at the Genies
Congratulations to the nominees for this year's Genie Awards in the best feature-length and best short documentary categories. Among the honourees is the Canwest-Hot Docs Funds recipient and 2009 official selection A HARD NAME (D: Alan Zweig), 2009 official selections INSIDE HANA'S SUITCASE (D: Larry Weinstein) and PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI (D: Paul Saltzman), Hot Docs 2009 best short winner THE DELIAN MODE (D: Kara Blake) and RIP! A REMIX MANIFESTO (D: Brett Gaylor), which was pitched at the TDF and is now available on DVD as part of the Hot Docs Collection. Hot Docs is delighted to be the sponsor of this year's Genie for Best Documentary Short. The Genie Awards will take place on Monday, April 12.
Posted: Mon, March 08, 2010 - 5:04:49
Celebrate Hot Docs’ Opening Night and Support Docs for Schools
On Thursday, April 29, celebrate the opening night of Hot Docs 2010 in support of the Festival's impactful Docs For Schools program. Mingle with special guests and media at a private cocktail reception. Enjoy the premiere screening of our opening night film with special introductions and an exclusive Q&A with the filmmakers. Then cap off your night with IMPACT: A Green Gala, a "green carpet" celebration in one of Toronto's most beautiful landmarks, featuring local cocktails, an amazing array of consciously prepared cuisine, dancing and a silent auction you won't be able to resist. All packaged in an environmentally sustainable way! Raise a glass and toast the opening of Hot Docs 2010 while helping to support invaluable and creative youth programs and efforts to green our planet.
Posted: Mon, March 08, 2010 - 4:59:38
SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION at Bloor Cinema February 19 to 23
After a successful premiere at Doc Soup this week, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION will open tonight in Toronto at the Bloor Cinema for an exclusive five-day run! Directed by Oscar-winning filmmakers Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman and executive produced by Danny Glover, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION features new performances by such celebrated performers as John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean and The Roots, and tells the story of the American civil rights movement through its powerful music.
Posted: Fri, February 19, 2010 - 4:17:31
Hot Docs Co-presents at Human Rights Watch
Hot Docs is delighted to co-present the award-winning film LAST TRAIN HOME by Lixin Fan as part of the opening night of this year's Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, Wednesday, February 24, at 6:30 pm at the Isabel Bader Theatre. Drawing audiences into the fractured lives of a single migrant family caught up in the desperate annual migration of millions heading home for Chinese New Year, LAST TRAIN HOME saw its Toronto premiere at last month's Doc Soup. The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival runs from February 24 to March 6.
Posted: Fri, February 19, 2010 - 4:13:57
Oscar Shortlisted GARBAGE DREAMS at March’s Doc Soup
Following February's successful screening of SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION, Hot Docs is delighted to bring to Doc Soup another film shortlisted for this year's Best Documentary Feature Academy Award. GARBAGE DREAMS will receive its Toronto premiere on March 17, with filmmaker Mai Iskander in attendance! Celebrated as "an evocative examination of the clash between tradition and modernism" by The Hollywood Reporter, GARBAGE DREAMS follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world's largest garbage village, on the outskirts of Cairo. Advance tickets are now on sale. For more information, to view the film's trailer, and to purchase tickets, visit www.hotdocs.ca.
Posted: Fri, February 19, 2010 - 4:11:23
Hot Docs at the Oscars
Three Hot Docs 2009 official selections will compete for the Documentary Feature Oscar at this year's Academy Awards. Congratulations to BURMA VJ, THE COVE and WHICH WAY HOME for receiving this honour. Congratulations also to RABBIT À LA BERLIN, which is competing in the Documentary Short category. The film received its world premiere at Hot Docs 2009 and won the prize for Best Mid-Length Documentary.
Posted: Fri, February 19, 2010 - 4:09:24
Submissions Open for 2010 Lindalee Tracey Award
Submissions are now being accepted for the 2010 Lindalee Tracey Award honouring an emerging Canadian filmmaker with a passionate point of view, a strong sense of social justice, and a sense of humour. The Lindalee Tracey Award is given annually at the Hot Docs Awards Presentation. Winners receive $6,000 in cash, film stock donated by Kodak Canada and valued at $3,000, and a beautiful hand-blown glass sculpture commissioned to honour Lindalee. The deadline for submissions is March 12, 2010. For more information on Lindalee, the award and the submissions process, visit www.hotdocs.ca.
Posted: Fri, February 19, 2010 - 4:05:08
Submit your ideas for 2010 Doc Summit
The National Film Board and Hot Docs are pleased to partner on the seventh edition of The Doc Summit, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing us all and to brainstorm on what the industry will look like when it’s working best. The seventh edition of The Doc Summit will take place this year on Friday, May 7, during the Hot Docs festival, conference and market, April 29 to May 9.
We are calling on you to submit a short vision statement addressing your recommendations, proposed policies or strategies for the Canadian documentary industry, focusing on preferred and realistic outcomes - rather than existing problems - and identification of constructive and realistic solutions. The deadline to submit these statements is March 17. For more information and to submit, visit www.hotdocs.ca.
Posted: Wed, February 17, 2010 - 2:22:33
Oscar shortlisted SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION at Doc Soup Toronto in February
SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION tells the story of the American civil rights movement through its powerful music – the freedom songs protesters sang on picket lines, in mass meetings, paddy wagons and in jail cells as they fought for justice and equality. The music and its infectious energy enabled African-Americans to sing words they could not say, helping protesters to face down brutal aggression with dignity and non-violence. Featuring new performances of these freedom songs by such celebrated performers as John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean and The Roots, the film couples thrilling performances with riveting archival footage and interviews with civil rights foot soldiers and leaders, including Congressman John Lewis and Julian Bond. Directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman (NANKING, Hot Docs 2007 official selection; TWIN TOWERS, 2003 Academy Award winner) and executive produced by Danny Glover, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION screens on Wednesday, February 17 @ 6:30 & 9:15 pm at the Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West.
Posted: Thu, January 28, 2010 - 5:55:58
Register for the International Documentary Challenge
Registration for the 2010 International Documentary Challenge is now open! Now in its fifth year, the International Documentary Challenge - which sees filmmakers from around the world compete to develop, produce and edit a four to seven minute doc in just five days - will return to Hot Docs this year, where the finalists of the March 4-8 challenge will see their work premiere on the big screen. For more information and to register, visit www.docchallenge.org.
Posted: Wed, January 20, 2010 - 6:22:31
Tahani Rached Celebrated in Focus On Retrospective
Hot Docs will pay tribute to Tahani Rached with this year's Focus On retrospective, an annual program showcasing the work of a mid-career Canadian filmmaker.
Born in Egypt, Tahani Rached settled in Quebec in 1966. After attending Montreal's École des Beaux-Arts, she was involved in community action until she made her first film, POUR FAIRE CHANGEMENT (1972), a documentary produced by Le Vidéographe, which set the tone for all her future work. In 1979, her first feature film, LES VOLEURS DE JOBS, revealed her distinctive view of the world, and was followed by a series of six half-hour documentaries for Radio-Quebec on Quebec's Arab community. An NFB staff filmmaker from 1980 to 2004, Rached's films include BEIRUT! NOT ENOUGH DEATH TO GO ROUND (1983); AU CHIC RESTO POP (1990); FOUR WOMEN OF EGYPT (1997); EMERGENCY! A CRITICAL SITUATION (1999); FOR A SONG (2001); SORAIDA, A WOMAN OF PALESTINE (2004), THESE GIRLS (2006), and NEIGHBORS (2009).
Tahani Rached will be in attendance at this year's Festival.
Posted: Fri, January 15, 2010 - 4:34:30
Kim Longinotto Named 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
The Hot Docs Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has chosen celebrated UK filmmaker Kim Longinotto as the recipient of its Outstanding Achievement Award, which will be presented at the Hot Docs Awards Presentation on Friday, May 7, at the Isabel Bader Theatre. As part of the honour, Hot Docs will screen a retrospective during the 17th annual Festival, April 29-May 9, celebrating Longinotto’s distinguished career.
Internationally acclaimed director Kim Longinotto is one of the pre-eminent documentary filmmakers working today, renowned for creating extraordinary human portraits and tackling controversial topics with sensitivity and compassion. Longinotto's rich filmography includes SISTERS IN LAW (2005), winner of a 2008 Peabody Award and two awards in Cannes; THE DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET (2003), which won the Amnesty International DOEN Award at IDFA and Best Doc UK Spotlight at Hot Docs; the recent HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO (2007), winner of the IDFA Special Jury Prize; The BAFTA award-winning DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE (1998); DREAM GIRLS (1993), winner of Best Documentary at Films de Femmes, Creteil; and SHINJUKU BOYS (1995), winner for Outstanding Documentary at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Her recent film, ROUGH AUNTIES, screened at Hot Docs in 2009 and was chosen by audiences as one of the top ten favourites of the year. ROUGH AUNTIES won the World Cinema Jury Prize in Documentary at Sundance in 2009.
Kim Longinotto will be in attendance at this year's Festival.
Posted: Fri, January 15, 2010 - 4:27:17
Film Transit International’s Jan Rofekamp Named 2010 Doc Mogul
Hot Docs will present Jan Rofekamp with the 2010 Doc Mogul Award, recognizing an individual who, over the course of her or his career, has made an essential contribution to the creative vitality of the documentary industry, both at home and abroad. Rofekamp will be presented the Doc Mogul Award at a luncheon in his honour during the Festival. Jan Rofekamp is president and owner of Films Transit International, one of the world's leading international distributors of high-profile theatrical feature documentaries. After studying film production at the Dutch Film Academy, Rofekamp co-founded and co-operated film distribution company Fugitive Cinema Holland until 1982, when he founded Films Transit International Inc. He has produced and executive produced dozens of films throughout his career.
Posted: Thu, January 14, 2010 - 5:19:19
Ripping Reality Retrospective and Made in South America Programs Announced
Hot Docs explores a decade of docs during its 2010 Festival with Ripping Reality, a retrospective that will map the recent explosive growth and popularity of non-fiction film.
With input from international documentary programmers, Ripping Reality will present a selection of contemporary films deemed significant over the past decade of explosive growth and development for the documentary form.
"We think the past decade has seen a new wave emerge within documentary culture," says Hot Docs director of programming Sean Farnel. "Yet unlike other new wave movements in the history of cinema this one remains largely undefined, unheralded."
Intended as a catalyst for further initiatives over the next year, Ripping Reality will afford Hot Docs audiences the opportunity to view significant works of the past decade and discuss the transformation of the medium during this time. Specific titles and programming attached to this retrospective will be announced in late March.
Hot Docs will once again explore the contemporary documentary work of specific nations and regions with its Made In program this year, which will focus on films from South America. Showcasing the finest in non-fiction cinema from this vibrant and artistically-rich region, Made In South America will feature a selection of films that champion the strength and vivacity of South America’s documentary film community.
Posted: Thu, January 14, 2010 - 5:09:58
Roger Ebert’s Top Ten Docs of 2009
Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert has selected his top ten docs of 2009, five of which are titles that screened at Hot Docs or Doc Soup. Congratulations to ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL, MUST READ AFTER MY DEATH, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE, TYSON and WE LIVE IN PUBLIC on making Ebert's year-end list.
Posted: Tue, December 29, 2009 - 3:51:52
