“EXIT MUSIC is a visceral, emotional, and unexpected story about death and dying and how a family struggles to face mortality. I follow the last year in the life of a young artist as he grapples with end of life decisions and focus on his relationship with his father, a Vietnam veteran with PTSD who […]
Hot Docs
HotDocs 2018 Interview – WOMEN OF THE VENEZUELAN CHAOS director Margarita Cadenas
“My movie is about five women from Venezuela, from different backgrounds and generations. They draw a portrait of a chaotic society and allow us to take the pulse of a population in distress. It represents a sort of barometer of the worsening critical situation in this Latin American nation.” Director Margarita Cadenas on WOMEN OF […]
HotDocs 2018 Interview: WARRIOR WOMEN directors Christina D. King & Elizabeth Castle
“WARRIOR WOMEN is the story of American Indian Movement leader, Madonna Thunder Hawk, who cultivated a rag-tag gang of activist children, including her daughter Marcy, into the “We Will Remember” Survival Group as a Native alternative to government-run boarding schools. Their deep involvement with The Movement fight for Native rights made them more comrades than […]
HotDocs 2018 Interview – THE ARTIST & THE PERVERT director René Gebhardt
“Art. Love. Radical self-determination. Nazis. BDSM. Consent. THE ARTIST & THE PERVERT is a documentary about a very special couple; Georg Friedrich Haas is a world-renowned composer and his wife Mollena is a sex educator, storyteller and activist. Together, they live in a 24/7 BDSM relationship with him being the master and her being the […]
HotDocs 2018 Interview: LAILA AT THE BRIDGE director Elizabeth Mirzaei
“LAILA AT THE BRIDGE is a film about an Afghan woman who tries to offer second chances to the outcast heroin addicts living under an infamous bridge in Kabul. Laila’s own brother was a heroin addict for over 25 years, inspiring her to undertake this Sisyphean task to provide free treatment to thousands of men […]
Hot Docs 2018 Interview — MR. FISH: CARTOONING FROM THE DEEP END director Pablo Bryant
“MR. FISH: CARTOONING FROM THE DEEP END is an in-depth look at the artist Mr. Fish, who is a brilliant, outrageous political cartoonist with a biting sense of satire whose work is dangerous in the best sense. He is a not ready for prime time artist, and the film is both a very personal documentary […]
Hot Docs 2018 Interview: TRANSFORMER director Michael Del Monte
“The film follows former U.S. Marine, bodybuilder and strongest man in the world, Matt Kroc, as he attempts his greatest test of strength: becoming a woman.” Director Michael Del Monte on TRANSFORMER which screens at #HotDocs25. Great to have you here at HotDocs! Tell me more about your process of getting this documentary project together! […]
Joseph Clement on ‘Integral Man’, Stanley Kubrick, and … Tomato Sauce?
Joseph Clement’s Integral Man was a hit at this year’s Hot Docs Festival. The documentary, filmed over several years, was a passion project for Clement who ended up spending a lot of time with James “Jim” Stewart, the owner of Integral House in Toronto, up until his death in 2014. Not so much a biography of […]
Hot Docs 2017 Interview: Nathan Fitch and Bryan Chang Discuss the Importance of the Micronesian Voice in ‘Island Soldier’
On one of the rainiest days in Toronto this year, I had the pleasure of speaking with some of the filmmakers behind Island Soldier. I was glad to hear that director Nathan Fitch and producer Bryan Chang were able to enjoy some sunshine in Toronto before the rainy weekend, but even more excited to talk about this […]
Hot Docs 2017: Strad Style
Stefan Avalos. USA. 104 Minutes. More Info. Danny Houck, a Ohioan who has never left the USA, is obsessed with violins. But he’s not obsessed with playing them – he’s obsessed with making them. His friends tell him that he could probably make more than just violins, including “guitars and stuff”. To which Danny responds […]
Hot Docs 2017: ‘House of Z’ Showcases Zac Posen’s Fashion Comeback
Sandy Chronopoulos. USA, Canada. 87 Minutes. More Info. In her feature film debut, director Sandy Chronopolous, a television producer for Rogers Media, documents the rise and fall and rise again of fashion wunderkind Zac Posen. House of Z is an intimate look at the beginnings of the fashion house and the drama that occurred behind the […]
Hot Docs 2017: Island Soldier
Nathan Fitch. USA. 85 Minutes. More Info. Island Soldier opens with a sobering shot; we’re at the funeral of a fallen soldier, Sapuro Nena. In the Federated States of Micronesia, the Islanders are able to enlist in the U.S. military and receive financial assistance for their service as per the contract set out in the Compact Free […]
Hot Docs 2017: ‘Pecking Order’ Tries it’s Clucking Best
Slavko Martinov. New Zealand. 88 Min. More Info. In the world of competitive chicken (or chook, as they so lovingly say in New Zealand) pageantry, there can only be one bird at the top. Members of the Christchurch Poultry, Bantam and Pigeon Club in New Zealand take their chickens very seriously. It’s an obsessive way of […]