TORONTO - North America's most important documentary festival returns this year with 171 movies from 39 countries.
The complete lineup of films for the 16th annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, which runs April 30-May 10, has now been announced. For the first time, a Canadian film will open the festival -- the world premiere of Jennifer Baichwal's highly anticipated Act of God, a film about the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning.
Baichwal's movie is in the Special Presentations program, as is Kirby Dick's Outrage, a film about closeted U.S. politicians who campaign against the gay community; The Cove, from Louie Psihoyo, which concerns the dolphin slaughter in Japan; Gary Hustwit's Objectified, which focuses on our complex relationship with manufactured objects; and Mercedes Stalenhoef's Carmen Meets Borat, a dark comedy about the Romanian villagers stunned to find they were presented as Kazakhstani idiots in Borat.
Three Canadian films will also be screened as Special Presentations, and they include the world premiere of Kevin McMahon's Waterlife, a film about the Great Lakes; Inside Hana's Suitcase (also a world premiere), Larry Weinstein's exploration of the story behind a young girl's name scrawled on a suitcase from Auschwitz; and the North American premiere of John Greyson's Fig Trees, a tribute to the activists of the HIV/AIDS movement.
Highlights of this year's Canadian Spectrum program include Larry Young's Ana and Arthur, a portrait of a marriage between a 70-year-old doctor and her 35-year-old husband; Rosie Dransfeld's Broke, about an Edmonton pawnshop and its customers; and Srinivas Krishna's Ganesh: Boy Wonder, which concerns the international media story of a poor Indian family and its son's facial deformity. Then there's Alan Zweig's A Hard Name, a film about the effect of prison on the human spirit; Invisible City from Hubert Davis, which concerns two black teens from Regent Park; and Sarah Goodman's When We Were Boys, an inside view of the privileged lives led by students at a private school.
Notable films in the competitive International Spectrum program include the world premiere of Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson's Mugabe and the White African, a film about one white farmer's attempt to save his farm from the despotic ruler's controversial land reclamation policy; the world premiere of Mary Rosanne Katzke's About Face: The Story of Gwendellin Bradshaw, about the reunion between a young woman and the mentally ill mother who disfigured her; the international premiere of Samantha Buck's 21 Below, a look at the wildly different life choices made by sisters in one middle class family; and the international premiere of Eric Daniel Metzgar's Reporter, which follows New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof as he reports on the humanitarian crises in the Congo.
Other highlights of the program are the North American premiere of Fabienne Godet's My Greatest Escape, a film about a career criminal known for his prison escapes; the North American premiere of Peter Kereskes' Cooking History, which has military cooks offering their view of the 20th century's major conflicts; and the Canadian premiere of Simone Bitton's Rachel, which investigates the death of a young peace activist in the Gaza Strip.
This year, Hot Docs will offer three retrospective programs. The Outstanding Achievement Award Retrospective honours the pioneering work of Canadian filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin. Then there's a Focus on Ron Mann, a mid-career retrospective of the Toronto filmmaker. And there's the Spotlight on the NFB at 70, which features important NFB titles selected by special guest programmers.
This year's festival will also include a program of documentaries from around the world with a special focus on the films of South Korea. For filmmakers, Hot Docs also presents important market events, conferences and services.
Tickets are available now, through the boxoffice (lower level of Hazelton Lanes), online at hotdocs.ca or by phone at 416-637-5150.
