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Hot Docs Independent Cinema Relief Fund Raises $72.9K & 29 Canadian Cinemas Receive Funding

We’re thrilled to announce that the Independent Cinema Relief Fund surpassed its goal by 240 per cent to raise a total of $72.9K, enabling Hot Docs to provide financial relief to more Canadian independent cinemas forced to suspend operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. All 29 cinemas that applied for funding will each receive $2,500 CDN, and an additional donation of $2,500 CDN will be given to Toronto Restaurant Workers Relief Fund.

Developed and administered in consultation with the Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors (NICE), the Fund was launched this spring to help sustain independent cinemas across the country and prepare them for their eventual reopening and the continuation of their crucial role of bringing communities of all sizes together through the transformative power of cinema. Donations were collected through the Hot Docs website from March 23 until the end of the Hot Docs Festival on May 9.

“Thank you so much to Hot Docs audiences who donated to this Fund. Because of your generosity, we’re able to provide even more cinemas across the country with the financial relief they so urgently need,” says Erin Lau, managing director for Hot Docs. “Independent cinemas add so much to the cultural fabric of a community—both large and small—and from the response to this Fund, it’s clear that our audiences recognize that and wanted to help during this challenging time.”

“From Star Cinema on Vancouver Island to City Cinema on PEI, the funds from the Hot Docs Independent Cinema Relief Fund will buoy staffing, technical and popcorn costs across the country,” says Wendy Huot, co-chair of NICE and owner/operator of The Screening Room in Kingston, Ontario. “This Fund comes at a critical time for independent cinemas, who have weathered a tough 14 months and are set to navigate a complicated reopening. We’re grateful to Hot Docs for their ambition and big-picture thinking with this generous campaign, which helps ensure communities across Canada will be able to congregate in their local cinema again.”

The following independent cinemas will receive funding:

  • Acadia Cinema Cooperative’s Al Whittle Theatre, Wolfville, Nova Scotia
  • Apollo Cinema, Kitchener, Ontario
  • The Bookshelf Cinema, Guelph, Ontario
  • Capitol 6 Theatres, Victoria, British Columbia
  • Cinéma Beaubien, Montréal, Québec
  • Cinéma du Musée, Montréal, Québec
  • Cinéma du Parc, Montréal, Québec
  • City Cinema, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
  • The Civic Theatre, Nelson, British Columbia
  • Dunbar Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia
  • Film.Ca Cinema, Oakville, Ontario
  • The Gorge Cinema, Elora, Ontario
  • Hyland Cinema, London, Ontario
  • Kineto Theatre, Forest, Ontario
  • Mayfair Theatre, Ottawa, Ontario
  • The Original Princess Cinemas, Waterloo, Ontario
  • Paramount Theatre - Kamloops Film Society, Kamloops, British Columbia
  • Playhouse Cinema, Hamilton, Ontario
  • Port Theatre, Cornwall, Ontario
  • Princess Twin Cinemas, Waterloo, Ontario
  • The Regent Theatre, Picton, Ontario
  • Revue Cinema, Toronto , Ontario
  • The Ridge Film House, Fort Erie, Ontario
  • Roxy Theatres of Uxbridge, Uxbridge, Ontario
  • The Screening Room, Kingston, Ontario
  • Star Cinema, Sidney, British Columbia
  • Sudbury Indie Cinema, Sudbury, Ontario
  • Vernon Towne Theatre, Vernon, British Columbia
  • The Westdale, Hamilton, Ontario

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